The Sunday Times - UK (2022-05-01)

May 1, 2022

and Barcelona both linked to the

29-year-old.

Raiola had been unwell for some

time, reportedly suffering from a lung

condition, but his official Twitter

account rejected rumours that he had

died only last Thursday when it

stated: “Current health status for the

ones wondering: pissed off second

time in 4 months they kill me. Seem

also able to resuscitate.”

Yesterday, though, its message was

more sombre. “Mino fought until the

end with the same strength he put on

negotiation tables to defend our play-

ers. As usual, Mino made us proud

and never realised it,” read a state-

ment from his family.

Raiola death

leaves cloud

over Pogba

and Haaland

transfers

The death of super-agent Mino Rai-

ola has left questions over what were

expected to be two of this summer’s

biggest transfers: Paul Pogba to Paris

Saint-Germain or Barcelona and

Erling Haaland to Manchester City.

Raiola, whose clients included

Manchester United’s Pogba and Haa-

land, of Borussia Dortmund, died

in an Italian hospital. He was 54.

Although it is believed Haaland has

agreed terms with City, the deal is far

from completed. Raiola said some

time ago that Pogba would be leaving

United but the France international’s

destination is still unknown with PSG

Peter Wilson PSG, Real Madrid, Juventus and

Inter Milan were among the clubs to

pay their respects to a man many of

the giants did business with.

Although Raiola was born in Noc-

era Inferiore, Salerno, in southern

Italy, he was brought up in Hol-

land. He spent some time doing the

washing up in his father’s restaurant

and played for the youth team of his

local club, Haarlem, but soon started

working as a football agent. Many

Dutch players, including Dennis Berg-

kamp, were among his clients.

Raiola was the man Mario Balotelli,

then of Manchester City, called when

his Cheshire mansion was on fire. Rai-

ola advised him to call the fire brigade.

He did not always get on with clubs,

their managers or the authorities, but

he took millions of pounds from

them. It was reported that he earned

£41 million from Pogba’s £89 million

transfer from Juventus to Manchester

United in 2016. Sir Alex Ferguson,

then Manchester United’s manager,

once called him a “shitbag” and a

“bad agent” because of the way he

handled Pogba’s move from United to

Juventus in 2012.

Not surprisingly, Raiola led the

rebellion against Fifa’s plans to intro-

duce caps on agent fees.

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