‘Super stork’ Mino Raiola passed away at the age of 54
ItalyMino Raiola, the representative of stars such as Erling Haaland, Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, died on the afternoon of April 30 due to illness.
The news of Raiola’s death was confirmed by his family via official Twitter. Two days ago, Italian media simultaneously reported that Raiola was in critical condition, after undergoing surgery earlier this year in a hospital in Milan.
Raiola is considered one of the two most powerful representatives of world football, next to Jorge Mendes. Image: Sky
“Mino fought to the last moment in the same way he used at the negotiating table to protect the interests of the players,” Raiola’s family said in a statement. Twitter write. “Mino makes us all proud. He touched so many lives through his work and wrote a new chapter in modern football history on how to take care of players. Mino does for better football. His presence will never be forgotten.”
Newspaper Bild of Germany said Raiola underwent complicated surgery on the lung, when the Italian “super stork” was hospitalized in January. A spokesman for Raiola later confirmed the surgery was not as serious as Bild describe.
Next Pogba, Haaland, IbrahimovicRaiola also represented Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Gianluigi Donnaruma, Romelu Lukaku, Marco Verrati, Matthijs de Ligt and about 70 other players. Raiola is famous for his ability to negotiate to bring benefits to his clients, even when he has to use “tricks”, and this makes him unpopular with some clubs.
Starting out as a waitress at a pizza restaurant, Raiola worked for Dutch company Sports Promotions in the 1990s. There he helped bring Dutch players to Italy, as was the case with Dennis Bergkamp. Then, he became an independent agent and made a splash when he brought former Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved from Sparta Prague to Lazio in 1996.
Raiola also helped Ibrahimovic play for many big clubs in Europe, bringing Balotelli from Inter to Man City and then bringing him back to Milan. In 2019, Raiola successfully appealed in a court, after being banned for three months by the Italian Football Federation for “undisclosed reasons”.
As the representative of Haaland – the most sought-after young talent today – Raiola is expected to show power in the transfer market this summer. His death could affect the future of Haaland as well as many other stars, including Pogba – whose contract with Man Utd expires in June.
Raiola is behind the “blockbuster” deal that brought Pogba back to Man Utd from Juventus for a record $ 112 million in 2016. He is said to pocket $ 25 million from this contract. In 2020, Forbes magazine estimated Raiola’s net worth at $85 million.
Vy Anh
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
