DEALS
Mino Raiola remembered: Football agent made huge transfers including Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku and was set to broker Erling Haaland deal
Football agent Mino Raiola has passed away from illness at the age of 54, it has been confirmed.
The Italian agent, who represented some of the game's biggest stars, including Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, was admitted to hospital in Milan and was reported to be in ill health in recent days.
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His death was officially announced by his family on Saturday, with a statement that paid tribute to 'the most caring and amazing football agent that ever was'.
Part of the statement said that "Mino fought until the end with the same strength he put on negotiation tables to defend our players," with the agent leaving a legacy of big-money transfers.
Born on November 4, 1967 in Salerno Italy, Raiola was brought up in the Netherlands after his parents moved to the country with him aged just one.
While playing football at youth level, he started working towards becoming a football agent with Sports Promotions, where he assisted in several high-profile transfers involving Dutch players.
These included deals that took Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk from Ajax to Inter Milan in 1992 - his first taste of a major deal in European football.
It didn't take long for Raiola to leave Sporting Promotions and set up on his own agency, with a massive deal in the offing as the first of many under his management.
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That deal was to take Pavel Nedved from Sparta Prague to Lazio in 1996, following his impressive showing for the Czech Republic at Euro 96.
From that point, Raiola's career went from strength to strength.
As well as then taking Nedved from Lazio to Juventus, Raiola took charge of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's career, guiding him from Ajax to Juventus, Juventus to Inter and then Inter to Barcelona within the space of five years.
He then oversaw the deal that took Robinho from Manchester City to AC Milan, before helping City to sign Mario Balotelli from Inter Milan in 2010, then taking the 'Why Always Me?' striker to AC Milan as well.
As well as further moves for Ibrahimovic, Raiola then made waves with a series of transfers involving Paul Pogba.
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Mino Raiola's biggest transfers
Mino Raiola's five biggest transfers
1. Paul Pogba (Juventus to Manchester United, £89m)
2. Romelu Lukaku (Everton to Manchester United, £75m)
3. Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax to Juventus, £67.5m)
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter to Barcelona, £57m)
5. Pavel Nedved (Lazio to Juventus, £34.6m)
The Italian agent helped the French star secure a move away from Manchester United in 2012 at the end of his contract, famously falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson as a result of taking away one of the club's most talented starlets.
He did, however, bring him back to Old Trafford in 2016 when Pogba signed for a fee in the region of £89million.
That summer he also helped United to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ibrahimovic, with all three of his clients joining the Red Devils in the same transfer market.
He also oversaw the deals that saw Italian stars Marco Veratti and Gianluca Donnarumma move to Paris Saint-Germain, and Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax to Juventus.
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Raiola also had control over the career of one of football's hottest prospects, Erling Haaland, and was seemingly on the verge of sealing another big deal shortly before his death.
After guiding the young Norwegian sensation from Red Bull Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, speculation continues around the player going into the summer of 2022.
The likes of Manchester City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are linked with a major move for the 21-year-old.
Dealing with such a wealth of talented players is exactly why Raiola will go down in history as one of football's most well-known agents, negotiators and businessmen.