Football agent Mino Raiola passed away on Thursday, aged 54, following a battle with illness. Raiola was well-known as one of the most successful and popular agents in world football, and the Italian-Dutch tycoon boasted an esteemed list of clients signed to his agency.
Reports emerged on Thursday that Raiola had passed away however the rumours were denied by Raiola’s family and his doctor, with several prominent sources confirming Raiola was in fact alive but in critical condition and fighting for his life. 48 hours later Raiola was pronounced dead after the 54-year-old had been battling illness for a number of months.
— Mino Raiola (@MinoRaiola) April 30, 2022
Born in Italy and raised in the Netherlands, Raiola represented some of the sport’s biggest names including the likes of Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimović, in addition to a plethora of other stars. Raiola was known for his unorthodox antics when it came to player dealings, as he was particularly brazen with the media, however he has also been lauded as a top agent and businessman who consistently strived to explore the best options for his clients.
Raiola oversaw Pogba’s €105m transfer from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016, which saw the player’s agent bag an eye-watering €27m in intermediary fees for brokering the then-world record deal. With the expiry of his United contract fast approaching, Pogba had begun exploring options for his next destination together with the prowess and expertise of agent Raiola.
Raiola has masterminded other high-profile moves, including the €75m transfer of Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax to Juventus in 2019. Last summer Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, another client of Raiola’s, completed a free transfer from AC Milan to Paris St-Germain.
In the weeks leading up to his death, Raiola was believed to be in the process of orchestrating a deal for Haaland to sign a mega contract with Manchester City, as well as for both Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui to join Bayern Munich from Ajax.
Among Raiola’s other prominent clients were Marco Verratti, Moise Kean, Alessio Romagnoli, Marcus Thuram, Justin Kluivert, Donyell Malen, and Hirving Lozano.
