The football world has been left in shock after news emerged on the death of Mino Raiola, one of the most famous agents in the game.
As confirmed by Raiola’s family this afternoon, the agent has passed away after a battle with illness. Raiola was 54 at the time of his death.
Raiola was in intensive care earlier this year amid reports that he was suffering with a pulmonary condition.
Nevertheless, Raiola’s passing is a major shock to many in the game after he left an indelible mark on football and the status of the agent.
Raiola is known for his work as a super-agent, but his beginnings are less talked about.
How did Mino Raiola rise to prominence?
Born in Italy but brought up in the Netherlands, Raiola’s father opened a restaurant and Mino worked there as a waiter.
It’s also barely mentioned that Raiola did actually pursue a career as a player, turning out for the HFC Haarlem youth team before quitting at 18.
That’s when Raiola really made his big moves into football agency.
Raiola began to emerge in the 1990’s having been heavily involved in deals involving players leaving the Netherlands for Italy.
Raiola’s star-studded list of clients
Bryan Roy, Marciano Vink, Win Jonk, Dennis Bergkamp and Michel Kreek all made the move with Raiola’s help.
Raiola’s first big move on his own is thought to be Pavel Nedved’s switch from Sparta Prague to Lazio – and what a deal that was for the Italian side.
By the late 2000’s, Raiola was one of a number of agents to have revolutionised how a player representative is viewed.
Raiola, alongside the likes of Jorge Mendes, Pini Zahavi, Jonathan Barnett and Kia Joorabchian, made agents just about as well-known as the top players in the game.
Agent payments have gone through the roof and big transfers happen with great regularity, with Raiola and those other names key to that revolution.
At the time of his passing, Raiola was representing huge names like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Erling Haaland, Paul Pogba, Matthijs de Ligt, Gianluigi Donnarumma and the in-demand Ryan Gravenberch.
Clubs haven’t always loved Raiola, and fans haven’t been huge fans either – especially when it comes to Pogba’s situation at Manchester United.
Players have loved Raiola though. For instance, former Leeds midfielder Ouasim Bouy took to Instagram in 2020 to hail Raiola as a father figure.
It’s clear that Raiola was immensely important to many players around the world.
Those players and the football world will miss Raiola, and we can only pass on condolences to his family and those close to him.
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