The well-known representative of Italian-Dutch footballers, Mino Raiolawhich managed, among others, the interests of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Erling Haaland, passed away at the age of 54, as announced this Saturday by his family on Twitter.
“It is with infinite sadness that we announce the passing of the kindest and coolest player agent who ever lived.”his family wrote on the networks, while adding: “Mino fought until the end with the same strength that he put when he was at the negotiating table to defend his players.”
Raiola’s family had denied last Thursday the “false information” published by numerous Italian media about the death of the agent, whose health problems had been known for months.
Astute and controversial, he had a reputation for his business vision, becoming adored by his players, for whom he obtained important contracts, but whom the teams mistrusted for his qualities as a negotiator.
Raiola, born in Nocera Inferiore, near Naples, and who grew up in the Netherlands, established himself as one of the most influential agents in the worldas feared by the clubs as it is adored by its clients.
The triple commission he received on the occasion of the transfer in 2016 of Pogba from Juventus de Turin to Manchester United is still remembered, estimated at 49 million euros (about 52 million dollars), according to documents leaked by the press a year later.
To become one of the most famous agents in world football and with one of the most prestigious agendas, Raiola took advantage of the development of the international transfer market during the 1990s, thanks to the Bosman case and the explosion of television rights in recent decades .
its beginnings
During his adolescence he worked in the family restaurant, but soon became indispensable at the local football club, HFC Harleem, where he became a manager in the early 1990s.
Little by little he begins to be interested in the signings of players in the Netherlands and Italy. He participates in the operation that brought Dennis Bergkamp from Ajax Amsterdam to Inter Milan in 1993, and decides to devote himself to player representation.
Another of the first big moves of the agent, who spoke seven languages, was the signing of Pavel Nedved by Lazio in 1996.
His agenda did not stop growing: Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Balotelli, Matthijs de Ligt, Marco Verratti or more recently Gianluigi Donnarumma and the desired Haaland, who was called to ensure the prosperity of the agent in the coming years.
One of his last moves took place during the last European interseasonal market, when Gianluigi Donnarumma, Eurocup champion and chosen best player of the tournament, left AC Milan as a free agent to sign for Paris SG, after the Italian team failed to meet the agent’s demands.
Several European clubs reacted to Raiola’s death, such as PSG, who recalled the figure of “a charismatic sports agent”, or Real Madrid, who conveyed their “condolences” and “affection” to his family.
Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, expressed his “dismay” at the news. “This is a premature and unexpected disappearance of a friend, someone who has always been an example in defending the interests of the players he represented,” he said.