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| With Lukaku on his way to Man United, we take a look at Mino Raiola, the super-agent behind the deal. |
With Everton striker, Romelu Lukaku, set to be on his way to Manchester United, we take a look at Mino Raiola, the super-agent behind some of Europe’s biggest transfers.
Raiola, who turns 50 this year, brokered his biggest deal last year, as Paul Pogba completed his £89m move to United from Juventus. In the deal, the super-agent pocketed over £40m.
Being the agent of Jose Mourinho, Raiola has helped push through many deals to Man United, especially in the last year.
Pogba, as well as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who recently left the Red Devils, are all Raiola’s clients.
Lukaku would be the fourth client of his in the space of 12 months to move to United. The sides have agreed a fee of £75m, but the latest reports suggest that Everton would want a number of add-ons that will take the total price up to £90m.
Raiola is certainly one of the most influential agents in sport. So influential that he chose Mkhitaryan’s move for him. The Armenian playmaker favoured a move to Real Madrid, but Raiola wanted a switch to Old Trafford.
Mkhitaryan said:“I am reserved, while he is crazy. However, we’ve always agreed on one thing: I listen to his advice.”
More recently, it was Raiola’s influence over Italian wonderkid, Gianluigi Donnarumma, that forced him to turn down a contract renewal at AC Milan.
However, various reports suggest that the Serie A side are hopeful that they’ll sign the 18-year-old goalkeeper to a new deal after a positive meeting in Milan, but because of Raiola’s poor relationship with sporting director, Massimiliano Mirabelli, the deal could take a bit longer than expected.
Raiola has brokered some of the biggest transfers in world football, and with the super-agent and Mourinho sharing a good relationship, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Manchester United continue to attract Europe’s best players.
Written by Jesse Nagel