As Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is taking over Rio Ave, there’s big coverage from the local media, who are excited about the investment the club are about to get.
It turns out it’s not only the Greek businessman who’s involved in that operation, as there’s another big name who mediated the talks, which is Jorge Mendes.
The super agent was mentioned by Rio Ave president Alexandrina Cruz in an interview with TSF. Quoted by O Jogo, she highlighted the representative’s return to the club, this time arriving to work alongside the Nottingham Forest owner.
“This contact came about by reconnecting with past partnerships. Partnerships that were very important to me and that have made us grow a lot in the past,” said Alexandrina Cruz.
“They were somewhat suspended in the recent past. Fortunately, we were able to revive these partnerships. I’m talking specifically about Gestifute and Jorge Mendes.”
It was last week that the Portuguese media revealed that Marinakis was trying to take over Rio Ave. A vote among club members took place on Sunday, and the vast majority approved that 80% of their shares are going to the Greek businessman.
We’re still to see whether that’ll have any impact on Nottingham Forest, although it’s not hard to imagine the Tricky Trees having an easier route to sign players from Portugal in the upcoming transfer windows.
