Even the initials are the same. Jose Mourinho and Jorge Mendes have risen symbiotically, one suave Portuguese in his early fifties hailed as the world's best manager when appointed by Manchester United and the other described as its foremost agent. They have become market leaders and multi-millionaires together.
The news that Mourinho was replacing Louis van Gaal came from his agent's camp soon after the Dutchman won the FA Cup. That was Mendes, calling the tune again; he often does. Yet the concern for United should be that he continues do so.
Mendes and Man United have a long relationship, one which has invariably been profitable for the agent and sometimes for the club. United's third European Cup and three of Sir Alex Ferguson's league titles could be attributed in part to Mendes: He was, after all, the man who delivered them Cristiano Ronaldo. Troubled as the post-Ferguson era has been, it would surely have been still worse but for their outstanding goalkeeper, David De Gea -- another Mendes client.
Yet Mendes also oversaw United's worst two signings of the past decade. The immobile, ineffective Radamel Falcao cost £20 million in loan fees and wages, scoring just four goals. Bebe, the only player Ferguson bought without seeing, arrived for £7.4m and soon illustrated why he had been in the Portuguese second division just weeks earlier. He was painfully out of his depth and it is tempting to speculate if United would have recruited Bebe had he been represented by anyone else.
This relationship has not always been a mutually beneficial one. Mendes almost sold De Gea to Real Madrid last summer. United recently missed out on the Bayern Munich-bound Renato Sanches, another rising star on Mendes' roster. They lost around £15m on one more, Angel Di Maria, when he joined Paris Saint-Germain after just one season and then paid over the odds (an initial £36m) for a then-19-year-old Anthony Martial, terrific talent as he is, just as they seemed to pay excessive fees for Nani (£17m) and Anderson (anything between £17m and £30m depending who you believe).
Mourinho's arrival brought suggestions that his initial transfer targets include midfielders Joao Mario, Andre Gomes and defender Ezequiel Garay, all Mendes clients. They have long been credited with an interest in James Rodriguez, who is seemingly unwanted at Real Madrid but would presumably come at a colossal cost given Real signed him for €80m.
At one point, half of Mourinho's Real team shared the same agent -- the manager's biographer, Diego Torres, said Mendes had his own office at their training ground -- and there is the potential for a similarly large contingent in the United team. As it is, representing the manager and the two finest players gives Mendes authority, but there are those at Old Trafford who are worried by the sway Mendes already exerts and the possibility that his power could grow.
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is presumably not among them, but perhaps he should be.
Mendes' prime duty is to his clients. He excels at finding them new employers and earning himself commission. If any agent has input in the running of a club, there is a clear conflict of interest and all advice from them should be considered in that context. But Mendes' high-profile fan club can suggest he ranks as one of the great humanitarians of his generation.
"Jorge Mendes is the best agent I dealt with, without a doubt," said Ferguson. Ronaldo has described him as "an awesome human being" and showed his appreciation in a different way, giving Mendes an island at his wedding last year. He has been named agent of the year six times (yes, there are awards for agents) at the Globe Soccer Awards where many of the other honours, entirely coincidentally, seem to go to those in Mendes' ranks as well.
But then there are plenty such coincidences. De Gea (Mendes' client) was reportedly unwilling to stay at United if Van Gaal remained manager but once another Mendes client (Mourinho) was appointed, that seemed to change. Coincidence? Perhaps. It is hard to escape the sense that some agents can abuse the power their most coveted assets give them.
A little more than two decades after he was a nightclub DJ, Mendes was named the second most powerful agent in any sport, behind only baseball's famously tough negotiator, Scott Boras. Forbes said he had negotiated more than $1 billion of contracts and received £62.3m in commission. His GestiFute agency was ranked as the seventh biggest.
There are recurring themes among the GestiFute stable, too, clubs with whom Mendes has a history of dealing and where it is logical to conclude he exerts an influence. Most obviously, they include Portugal's three giants, Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. They also include three of Mourinho's employers: Chelsea, Real Madrid and United. Clubs bought by moneyed owners (such as Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Valencia) have a habit of recruiting Mendes clients. Atletico Madrid have tended to sell them instead, often for large fees.
Mendes' influence extends to Turkey where Besiktas, in particular, have employed many a Mendes man. It could be just coincidence, but it scarcely feels that way.
It may also be notable that several other leading clubs (Arsenal, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern until the Renato Sanches signing) have rarely, if ever, dealt with Mendes and Barcelona seem not to now. It may put them at a disadvantage, considering his portfolio also includes Diego Costa, Nicolas Otamendi, Eliaquim Mangala, William Carvalho, Bernardo Silva, Ricardo Carvalho, Tiago, Joao Moutinho, Bruno Alves and Fabio Coentrao, yet there is a danger if an agent exerts too much power at a club.
Moreover, the wealthier the club, the keener that outsiders are to be involved. United, whose £500m turnover and £150m transfer budget makes them an attractive proposition for anyone with footballers for sale, need only ask their neighbours. City will not publicly state they would not sign another client of Kia Joorabchian, Carlos Tevez and Mark Hughes' representative, but it is extremely unlikely they would.
Mourinho's fierce will to win ought to act as a reassurance to United. He seems precisely the sort of manager who would not countenance signing any player for any non-footballing reasons. Yet he did take Falcao to Chelsea. Perhaps it was a decision based on the Colombian's prolific form before a knee injury reduced his mobility, but it proved a major mistake. Even Mourinho suffered by taking one of Mendes' men.
It is a situation Woodward should recall if the game's resident super-agent has any suggestions to make. Because, just as it seems Mendes may have still more dealings at Old Trafford, the lesson of the past is that is that United sometimes gain, but that he always does. No matter what.