After weeks of uncertainty that included a false alarm on his health, the entourage of player agent Mino Raiola has informed today that the prominent football personality has passed away at 54 years of age due to an undisclosed pulmonary disease.
The player agent was reported ill back in January, and as his condition worsened, several media outlets went as far as to declare his death twice before it actually happened. This prompted a tweet by Raiola about him being "piss** off" for how the news about his medical situation was being handled. Now, via a press release on his Twitter account, his family has confirmed the sad news.
— Mino Raiola (@MinoRaiola) April 30, 2022
Raiola made a name for himself in the world of football in 1993 when he landed the signing of striker Dennis Bergkamp. Since then, he represented some of the top footballers in the business, being Pavel Nedved his first major transfer for his own company. Other players that were represented by the late agent include Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku, Mario Balotelli, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Hirving Lozano and Paul Pogba, who became the world's most expensive transfer in 2016 thanks to Raiola's aggresive negotiating style.
One of the most relevant transfer he was supposed to deliver this summer had to do with Erling Haaland, who is expected to leave Borussia Dortmund for a record fee to either Manchester City or Real Madrid. Haaland is believed to be one of the last players to have seen the agent alive due to the ongoing talks about his future.
Raiola, who was responsible in part for creating the term "super agent", will leave behind a legacy of tough negotiations and an irreverent style. Players under his wing were truly close to the agent, while some European clubs decided to ban him for his aggresive tactics. Either way, the world of football will not be the same after Raiola's passing.
