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Jorge Mendes started with one client he picked up in a bar... now he's completed nearly £200m worth of Premier League transfers (and pocketed £18m personally) this summer as his influence over English football grows even stronger

At the beginning of Cristiano Ronaldo's 2015 film, Jorge Mendes is in a restaurant reeling off the clubs who were interested in the then-baby faced Sporting Lisbon teenager. There were no shortage of takers.

'Juventus, Inter Milan, Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia - everybody wanted Cristiano. Thank god, Sir Alex Ferguson came to me and said "Jorge leave it with me." This is the story. Nothing is impossible my friend. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing, believe me, trust me, trust me, nothing is impossible. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing!'

That may as well be the case for Mendes, who not only remains Ronaldo's trusted allay and genuine friend amid his global stardom, but has also seen his influence across big-money transfers worldwide skyrocket in the past two decades.