Mino Raiola: How a pizza chef became a football super agent

The name Mino Raiola should be familiar to many football fans, as one of the most iconic football agents of the 21st century. The Italian, who grew up in the Netherlands, was known as an influential agent, securing big deals for superstars. He started at the bottom of the ladder and fought his way up, this is the remarkable story of Mino Raiola.

Raiola was born Carmine Raiola on 4 November 1967 in Nocera Inferiore.

A year later, his parents moved to the Dutch city of Haarlem, where the family built a life.

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Raiola's father started a pizzeria where young Mino helped as a dishwasher, cleaner and waiter. Later, he would become more involved in organisational duties, as his Dutch was better than his father's.

Raiola studied law and soon after entered the business world with his own company.

Raiola, however, seemed to be passionate about football. He played for the youth team of HFC Haarlem and later became a director at the same club. He did not get on well with the rest of the board, however, and decided to focus on other things.

Raiola started working as a football agent for Sports Promotions, where he assisted in some important transfers of Dutch players, such as Dennis Bergkamp's move to Internazionale.

Raiola was very ambitious and started working for himself. He established his own agency and immediately managed a big transfer.

In 1996, he guided Pavel Nedvěd from Sparta Prague to SS Lazio, a transfer that turned out to be a great succes.

Raiola did not forget about the Dutch market either. Former Ajax star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for instance, was one of his clients and he managed the Swede's transfer to Juventus.

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Raiola became increasingly influential and evolved into one of the most powerful figures in the world of football. This was once again apparent in 2016.

The former HFC Haarlem board member negotiated the transfer of Paul Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016. The deal entailed a €105 million transfer fee.

Raiola fared well with Pogba's transfer and reportedly pocketed around €25 million. An astronomical sum.

Apart from Pogba, Raiola represented several other major footballers. For example, he also handled the interests of Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt and Norwegian prodigy Erling Haaland.

The super agent, however, was not without controversy in the football world. Raiola was known to be a tough negotiator who only wanted the best for his clients. As a result, Raiola repeatedly clashed with big names in football. But he also faced other problems.

Raiola underwent surgery in early 2022, and on 28 April that year, the news suddenly came that he had died. The agent, however, personally debunked the news on Twitter: "Current health status for the ones wondering: p----- off second time in 4 months they kill me," he wrote.

On 30 April 2022, however, it was announced that Raiola had died, which was confirmed by the agent's own family. He was 54 years old.

Raiola worked his way up to become one of the most influential agents in football during his lifetime. His career ended at the age of 54, but his influence on football still lives on.

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