Mino Raiola, one of football’s most powerful agents whose high-profile clients included Paul Pogba and Erling Haaland, has been confirmed dead by his family on Saturday.
Raiola died at the age of 54.
“In infinite sorrow we share the passing of the most caring and amazing Football Agent that ever was,” the Italian’s family said in a message on Twitter.
“Mino fought to the end with the same strength he put on negotiation tables to defend our players. As usual, Mino made us proud and never realised it.”
According to AFP, Raiola’s family did not say from what illness he had been suffering but he had been at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital where he had previously survived scares.
His death comes two days after Italian media reported he had died only for his agency, the head of San Raffaele’s intensive care department, and eventually the man himself to deny he had passed away.
Raiola was born in Nocera Inferiore in southern Italy but in 1968, still only a one-year-old, he was taken with his family to Haarlem in the Netherlands.
He began his working life at his family’s pizzeria in the medieval city before beginning his long march to becoming one of the most powerful agents in football.
READ ALSO: Pogba, Haaland’s football agent, Raiola, dies at 54
The Italian was one of the biggest football agents in the world, representing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland, Marco Verratti, Moise Kean, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Mario Balotelli, Romelu Lukaku, among others.
Raiola played a role in many big-money transfers during his successful career, such as Pogba’s record-breaking move from Juventus to Manchester United in the summer of 2016.
The agent’s career started in the eighties, brokering Dennis Bergkamp’s move from Ajax to Inter Milan in the summer of 1993.
He was involved in Robinho’s historic move from Real Madrid to Manchester City, the first transfer of the Sheikh Mansour era.
Raiola’s involvement in several big-money transfers helped him amass a significant personal fortune.
Forbes estimated last year that Raiola’s personal wealth was in the region of £62m.
It was reported that Raiola earned £20million from the world record £89m sale of Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016.
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