The death of super agent Mino Raiola was confirmed on Saturday after illness, his family confirmed.
Rayola was considered a “superagent” because of the brilliant range of talent he represented, and a number will be on the move this summer. He helped design some of the biggest moves in world football during his career.
Here, Sportsmail examines how the 54-year-old has had such a global impact on football since such humble beginnings.
Senior super agent Mino Raiola has died at the age of 54 after an illness
When Agent Mino Raiola received his first major breakthrough as a translator in the transfer of Denis Bergkamp to Inter Milan in 1993, he secretly photocopied all relevant documents to know how to make the deal himself next time.
It was an act of ruthlessness that helped make the 48-year-old an agent at the center of the biggest transfer in world football, adored by clients like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba and hated by almost everyone else.
Bombastic and provocative, he insulted Pep Guardiola, quarreled with Sir Alex Ferguson, and kicked and shouted his way through various lucrative deals that earned him the nickname “Mr. Three Hundred Million.”
Mino Raiola could receive £ 20 million from the transfer of Paul Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United
Ibrahimovic considered him a “freak” on their first date, before the former pizza chef made a fortune for him.
Manchester United are now in debt after signing with two of their players – Zlatan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan – with a world record of 100 million pounds for Pogba after that, as Raiola personally collected an additional 20 million pounds.
But who is this tough, rude and uncompromising agent whose company Maguire Tax & Legal is a tribute to the movie character Jerry “Show me the money” Maguire and whose ability to divide opinions coincides with that of Donald Trump.
How does a pizza chef from Harlem in the Netherlands end up living in a bright apartment overlooking the yachts in the port of Monaco, who is spending his vacation discussing business with Pogba in the Miami pools?
His success is a mixture of talent and ruthlessness. Born in Italy, he moved to the Netherlands as a baby and was raised in Harlem in the family pizzeria.
With his own football career at 18, the young Rayola studied law, helped in the family business and persuaded a local football club to make him director of football. Most importantly, he develops language skills and can speak seven – Italian, Dutch, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese.
Ibrahimovic and Rayola (right) are pictured with Adriano Galliani and Silvio Berlusconi
It was this talent that warned Rob Jansen, the most famous agent in the Netherlands, who needed an interpreter when he watched the transfer of Bergkamp from Ajax to Inter Milan in 1993.
Rayola was a professional, looked diligent and got a full-time job working for Sport-Promotion, Jansen’s company. So it was a huge shock when Rayola suddenly left to set himself up as a direct opponent. Jansen has not spoken to him since.
Raiola’s first big deal was the one that took Pavel Nedved to Lazio after Euro 96. But the moment that changed his life came when he invited the young Ajax striker Ibrahimovic to a restaurant and found that they were kindred spirits. think the others of them.
The agent, less than 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing more than 16, appeared in jeans.
“Was he supposed to be an agent?” A stranger, said Zlatan. “We got a lot of fat, enough to feed five people, and it started to fill itself.”
At that time, the horror became reluctant admiration and the couple became lifelong partners.
Ibrahimovic allowed Rayola to drive his Porsche around Amsterdam, and the agent conspired with Juventus boss Luciano Moggi to force Ibra to leave the Netherlands.
The striker got his move, and then bigger in the two clubs from Milan, Barcelona, PSG and now United. In order to be rewarded, Rayola moved to the Riviera and turned to a glamorous lifestyle.
He was called “Mr. Five Percent” and seemed to specialize in eccentrics.
Rayola represented players including Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
He sold Robinho from Manchester City to Milan and led Mario Balotelli through extreme ups and downs.
When 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 takes on the role of main sponsor. “It’s never too late in life,” is his current advice to the player. Others see a less noble country. “He’s a scumbag,” Raiola said of Guardiola in Barcelona. “He was the one who took Ibra to Barcelona and then treated him like a fool.”
Rayola claims to be a Napoli fan and is trying to develop a special relationship with the club, but their president Aurelio De Laurentiis called it a “back pain”.
Ferguson was unhappy with the way he believed Rayola had unjustifiably influenced the Pogba family to force the 19-year-old from Old Trafford in 2012.
“I didn’t trust him from the moment I met him,” said the United manager. “There are one or two football agents I just don’t like – and Mino Raiola is one of them.
“We had Paul under a three-year contract and he had a one-year renewal option that we couldn’t wait to sign. But Rayola suddenly appeared on stage and our first meeting was a fiasco.
Rayola acted as a translator in the deal that took Denis Bergkamp to Inter from Ajax
“He and I were like oil and water. From (the first meeting) onwards, our goose was cooked because Rayola managed to fall in love with Paul and his family and the player signed with Juventus.
Rayola usually neglects her reputation. “I put Pogba’s interests first and we decided to go to Turin. “Maybe Ferguson likes only those who obey him,” the agent replied.
“I don’t care about my public image, because there’s always someone in the world who loves you and hates you for what you say or do.”
Roberto Martinez, the former Everton manager, is another who felt used by Rayola last season for stories about Paris Saint-Germain’s interest in another of his clients, Romelu Lukaku. “I don’t deal with rumors,” the diplomatic Martinez said.
Rayola’s friends, and he entrusts much of his business to his son Vicenza, are worried about the damage that stress can do to a man his size.
Rayola is joking with Pogba, but many had the agent’s belly this summer
At Borussia Dortmund this summer, witnesses were shocked when Raiola was so worried that he kicked chairs and tables in a rage when it seemed that Mkhitaryan’s move for 28 million pounds at United would collapse. Did not happen.
However, superstar players love it and that’s the trick. Even Ibrahimovic will accept Raiola’s criticism more than anyone else, after the Dutchman complained that he could not sell it unless he scored more goals. Their unique connection meant that the blow to the back worked.
“I was very happy with myself, thinking I was all this,” Ibrahimovic said. “It simply came to our notice then. I was too lazy and started giving everything I had in training and matches.
Rayola, who has already accepted more than £ 250 million in players’ deals and salaries, is still wearing polo shirts and sneakers – it’s hard to find a stylish Italian suit to fit. These shirts often sweat.
The falling pound means that Rayola’s fee has increased significantly for United after Brexit on June 23.
Rayola, with Milan Galliani’s sporting director, is candid and not worried about criticism
This does not bother the agent at all. He and Pogba looked like a strange football couple as they splashed in Miami over the weekend, with the Frenchman posting a photo on Instagram.
The most valuable footballer in the world and his agent seem to be enjoying their strength.
It may not be instructive, but Rayola doesn’t 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.
This is just as good because they are probably his only friends.
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