Raiola was considered a “super agent” because of the brilliant range of talents he represented and many will be on the move this summer. He helped design some of the biggest moves in world football during his career. Here, Sportsmail looked at how the 54-year-old made such a global impact on the football game from such a humble beginning. Top super agent Mino Raiola has died at the age of 54 after an illness. When agent Mino Raiola took his first big break as a translator in Dennis Bergkamp’s transfer to Inter in 1993, he was secretly photocopying all the relevant documents so he would know how to make the deal next time. It was an act of cruelty that helped turn the 48-year-old into an agenda at the heart of the biggest transfer in world football, adored by clients such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba and hated by almost everyone else. Bombing and provocative, he has insulted Pep Guardiola, has had a fight with Sir Alex Ferguson and kicked and shouted at him through various lucrative deals that earned him the nickname “Lord Three Hundred Millions”. Mino Raiola could earn 20 20m from Paul Pogba’s transfer from Juventus to Manchester United Ibrahimovic considered him “weird” when they first met, before his former pizza chef made a huge fortune. Manchester United are now in debt, having already signed two of their players – Zlatan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan – to a world record 100 100million deal for Pogba, with Raiola personally receiving εκατο 20m. But who is this tough, rude and irreconcilable agent whose company, Maguire Tax & Legal, is a tribute to the cinematic character Jerry ‘Show me the Money’ Maguire, and whose ability to divide opinions matches that of his Donald Trump. How does a pizza chef from Haarlem, the Netherlands, end up living in a flash apartment overlooking yachts in the port of Monaco, who spends his holidays discussing chores with Pogba in Miami Pools? His success story is a mixture of talent and toughness. Born in Italy, he moved to the Netherlands as a baby and grew up in Haarlem at the family pizza restaurant. With his own football career at the age of 18, the young Raiola studied law, helped with the family business and persuaded the local football team to make him director of football. Most importantly, he developed a language skills and can speak seven languages - Italian, Dutch, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Ibrahimovic and Raiola (right) pictured next to Adriano Galliani and Silvio Berlusconi This talent alerted Rob Jansen, the most famous agent in the Netherlands, who needed an interpreter when he oversaw the transfer of Bergkamp from Ajax to Inter in 1993. Raiola was a professional, diligent, and took a full-time job at Sport-Promotion, Jansen’s company. So it was a huge shock when Raiola suddenly left to set himself up as a direct opponent. Jansen has not spoken to him since. Raiola’s first big case was the one that led Pavel Nedved to Lazio after Euro 96. But the moment that changed his life came when he called the young Ajax striker, Ibrahimovic, to a restaurant and found out that they were unrelated spirits. they paid a penny for the opinion of others. from them. The agent, who was less than 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed more than 16, appeared in jeans. “Did he have to be an agent?” “Strange,” said Zlatan. “We got a huge spread, enough to feed five people, and it started filling itself up.” By that time, the horror had turned into admiration and the couple became lifelong companions. Ibrahimovic allowed Raiola to drive his Porsche around Amsterdam and the agent plotted with Juventus captain Luciano Moggi to force Ibra to leave the Netherlands. The striker got his move, and then bigger in both Milan teams, Barcelona, PSG and now United. To reward himself, Raiola moved to the Riviera and followed the glitterati lifestyle. They called him “Mr Five Percent” and he seemed to specialize in eccentrics. Raiola represented players such as Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic He sold Robinho from Manchester City to Milan and guided Mario Balotelli to extreme highs and lows. When the times were good, Raiola described Balotelli as an important part of Italian culture. Now the striker is rotting in Liverpool without an obvious buyer, his agent is taking on the role of chief encourager. “In life, it’s never too late,” is his current advice to the player. Others have seen a less noble side. “It’s rubbish,” was Raiola’s view of Guardiola in Barcelona. “He was the one who took Ibra to Barcelona and then treated him like shit.” Raiola claimed to be a Napoli fan and tried to develop a special relationship with the club, but their president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, called him a “back pain”. Ferguson was unhappy with the way he felt Raiola had unjustifiably influenced the Pogba family to force the 19-year-old from Old Trafford in 2012. “I was skeptical of him from the moment I met him,” said the United manager. “There are one or two football agents I just do not like – and Mino Raiola is one of them. “We had Paul on a three-year contract and he had a one-year renewal option, which we were willing to sign. But Raiola suddenly appeared on stage and our first meeting was a fiasco. Raiola acted as translator in the deal that led Dennis Bergkamp to Inter from Ajax “He and I were like oil and water. “From (the first meeting) onwards, our goose was cooked because Raiola was able to thank Paul and his family and the player signed with Juventus.” Raiola usually rejects his reputation. “I put Pogba’s interests first and we decided to go to Turin. “Perhaps only those who obey him like Ferguson,” is the agent’s answer. “I am not interested in my public image because there is always someone in the world who loves you and who hates you for what you say or do.” Roberto Martinez, the former Everton manager, is another who felt that Raiola used him last season for the stories they told about Paris Saint-Germain’s interest in another client, Romelu Lukaku. “I’m not amused by rumors,” said Martinez, a former diplomat. The friends that Raiola has, and who confides much of his business to his son Vicenza, are worried about the damage that all the stress can do to a man his size. Raiola is joking with Pogba, but many are already stressing him this summer In Borussia Dortmund this summer, witnesses were shocked when Raiola was so tired that he started kicking chairs and tables furiously when it looked like Mkhitaryan’s στη 28m move to United would collapse. He did not do it. Superstar players love him though, and that’s the trick. Even Ibrahimovic will accept criticism from Raiola more than anyone else, as the Dutchman complained that he could not sell him if he did not score more goals. Their unique relationship meant that the blow to the back worked. “I was very happy with myself, thinking I was all that,” Ibrahimovic said. “But it was the wrong attitude. “I was very lazy and started giving everything I had in training and competitions.” Raiola, who has already received more than 250 250m in cuts from player deals and salaries, still wears polo shirts and gyms – finding it difficult to find a stylish Italian suit that fits. These shirts often sweat. The fall of the pound means that Raiola’s salary has increased significantly for United after Brexit on June 23. Raiola, with the sporting director of Milan Galliani, is honest and is not bothered by the criticism Not a single bit bothers the agent. He and Pogba looked like the strange football couple as they went out to Miami at the weekend with the Frenchman posting a photo on Instagram. The world’s most valuable footballer and his agent seem to be enjoying their power. It’s refreshing, perhaps, but Raiola does not care. “I am not in the world to please others, but to do what is right. “I am at the service of my players,” he said. Equally good, because they are probably his only friends.
