Jorge Mendes to help FA find England boss? We profile the super-agent

The Football Association has asked super-agent Jorge Mendes to help in their search for the new England manager, according to The Sun.

Mendes is a hugely influential figure whose name is often linked with the biggest transfer moves in football, but who exactly is he? And how did he come to wield so much power?

Here's the lowdown on the man who could help England find their new boss...

Who is Jorge Mendes?

Mendes is a 50-year-old football agent, who has conducted some of the biggest transfers in European football.

He counts Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Costa, James Rodriguez and David de Gea among his clients and recently worked on Jose Mourinho's appointment as Manchester United manager.

The Portuguese negotiator, who heads up his own sports agency GestiFute, has reportedly worked on transfers totalling more than £1bn during his 20-year career and carries significant influence in the world of football.

Why would the FA ask for his advice?

According to The Sun, Mendes has a long-standing relationship with FA vice-chairman David Gill, who is part of the three-man team charged with appointing the new England boss. The pair are believed to have had dealings during Gill's time as Manchester United chief executive.

The FA is open to appointing a foreign manager to succeed Roy Hodgson and could make use of Mendes' wide range of contacts in the game to help the search.

Which major deals has he been involved in?

As well as big-money moves involving Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, James Rodriguez and Diego Costa, Mendes has more recently facilitated Manchester City's £32m purchase of Eliaquim Mangala and Alex Teixeira's £38.4m switch to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Mendes also represents Renato Sanches, who joined Bayern Munich for an initial sum of £27.5m this summer following an impressive season with Benfica - and Sky sources revealed the midfielder would have joined Manchester United if they had come to an agreement with Benfica in time.

Mendes also has a number of players at Valencia and he claims that 68 per cent of all transfers at Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Porto between 2001 and 2010 were conducted by him.

Will he be busy this summer?

Almost certainly. He has already brokered Mourinho's move to Manchester United, and is expected to be busy negotiating Ronaldo's new contract at Real Madrid. A number of his other clients, such as Falcao, Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez have also been linked with moves.

How did he become an agent?

He may be working on multi-million pound deals now, but Mendes' career as an agent had humble beginnings. He was a nightclub owner in Portugal 20 years ago when he met goalkeeper Nuno and helped him join Deportivo La Coruna.

Multi-lingual Mendes built his client base around young, talented Portuguese footballers and as his players impressed, his reputation grew.