The death or not of an agent caused a shock in the entire world football world, and even the official mourning of European giants was deleted after it was deleted. Which big guy has such influence? Mino-Raiola said second, Mendes may not dare to say first.
One of the most influential brokers, not one
Ask: Who is the most influential agent in football today? One might say it's Mendes, because among his clients are Cristiano Ronaldo and Mourinho. However, the president is old after all, and the madman has already passed.
The real answer is Raiola. He has an older generation of world superstars, such as Ibrahimovic; there are also mesozoic stars favored by giants, such as Pogba; and there are also popular fried chickens that have become the top, such as Haaland.
Add in Donnarumma, De Ligt, Verratti, Gravenbeck, etc., which one is not the biggest figure in the transfer market? Lukaku and Jesse Lingard also worked with Raiola but have now broken up.
As you can see, Raiola's tentacles span Italy, the Netherlands, France, England, Norway and even South and North America, and she has more superstars and talented stars in her hands, and her influence is indeed greater than that of Mendes, who focuses on Portuguese-speaking players!
One of the most controversial brokers, none
Along with the super huge influence, there is also a super huge controversy in Laiola, which is reflected in the fact that in the eyes of the club and the client, he is the opposite, one is a devil, the other is an angel!
On the devil's side, it is Raiola who makes the clubs he tries to work with feel deeply resentful. In negotiations, he always used various means to achieve his goals: asking for higher player salaries, more agent commissions, shorter contract terms, lower liquidated damages clauses, and preparing for the next transfer.
When Pogba first left Manchester United, Lord Ferguson once denounced Raiola as "garbage", accusing him of instigating and pushing the French midfielder to leave the team for free behind his back, "From the moment I met him, I didn't trust him." ”
In 2016, In order to get Pogba again, Manchester United not only spent £89 million in transfer fees, but also paid a weekly salary of £290,000, and Laiola received 41 million commissions from it!
In the past 6 years, Pogba has repeatedly demonized, or implied or explicitly wanted to leave again, behind which there is no figure of this brokerage boss. Laiola even blatantly shouted: "I will not send any players to Manchester United, even Maradona, Pele and Maldini, Manchester United can destroy them!" ”
Now it's Dortmund's turn to suffer. Rayola has been peddling Haaland, without the slightest regard for him as a Player of Dortmund, completely ignoring the Bundesliga giants, without respect, but finally got his wish. Haaland is about to move to Manchester City, and it is said that La Fat himself will receive a commission of at least 60 million euros!
devil? angel!
But from the player's point of view, Raiola is simply an angel of her own! Choosing him as an agent was the smartest decision. Because the Italian can fight for the interests of the players to the greatest extent possible, even if it is to intimidate or threaten the opposing club.
Football journalist Van den Wild said: "There are several reasons for Raiola's success, the most important of which is that the work is very hard. Despite making so much money, he still has enough motivation to do his best for his players. Many agents are afraid to fight for their players when negotiating with their teams, and they are afraid that they will fall out of favor with the team and will not be able to continue to do business in the future. But Laiola doesn't care, he always puts his players first. ”
Laiola herself said: "In the mouth of the club and the fans, I am the worst player agent, but it doesn't matter, I don't care about that. My job is to help the players get the best contracts, nothing else matters. At least my players don't call me a 'parasite', it's more important than anything, I only care what they think of me. ”
Not only that, Raiola also treated the players as friends, as brothers, he used to stand up for Ibrahimovic, called Guardiola a coward and a dog, once called Klopp for Balotelli.
When Ibrahimovic played for AC Milan for the first time, Inter star Mikhailovic sprayed Dafengxian after the Milan der mate, so Laiola stepped forward: "If someone attacks my player, it's like attacking me. So we started arguing, and Miha suddenly said, 'What does this pizza chef want to do?' ’”
Since then, Raiola has had the nickname "Pizza Chef". So will he make pizza? No! Never did it, but after his parents immigrated from Italy to the Netherlands, they did open an Italian restaurant selling pizza and pasta, and the customers at the time would certainly not know that the boy who was responsible for washing dishes, cleaning and serving would dominate the fate of the world's top stars in the future!
In short, Raiola is both a devil and an angel, it all depends on which angle you stand to see him, and he does not care whether he is a devil or an angel, as long as he does his job, serves customers well, and makes more money for customers and for himself, this is enough.