How Mino Raiola Became a Super Agent

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Mino Raiola passed away in April 2022 at the age of 54. He had become the most infamous football agent in the world, broker deals for some of the games biggest player, including Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But how did he become a footballing super agent? How did a restaurant worker from Naples connect Serie A with the Eredivisie? How did he inspire such loyalty in his clients?
James Horncastle writes, Philippe Fenner illustrates.
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#MinoRaiola

[@RonnyWelles]

Large omission from this video: Raiola got hired by Rob Jansen's Sport Promotion (Hollands biggest agency at the time) and gave him his big break and worked under/for him for years (while Raiola was also working on the HFC Haarlem board and making his first deals with Napoli) and after Jansen found Raiola to be untrustworthy, they broke up and Raiola went solo and the rest was history. I don't know why something this big wasn't mentioned at all here.

[@pKerViKNG]

great comment, thank you for the info.

[@nkjoself2040]

Without this context the whole video is useless tbh. They could have made it much longer and much better.

[@m.aununu.musaffa7466]

Thats important heritage... But common super agent in national level cant become 'the frontrunner agent that force continental association to move'

[@tinyspeaker]

Thanks, didn't bother watching the rest. Tifo still have their folksy small time charm, but they're literally owned by nyt

[@crobeastness]

@@tinyspeaker nyt?

[@SujoyChakravarthi93]

The most polarizing figure in Football in the 21st century, most likely ever. I will never ever get over his engineering the mega deal for Pogba and making United pay through the nose or his running battles with Sir Alex - but what always struck me was his dedication to his clients. There had to be some substance to the man with that many high profile players behind him, and when you look at it from their perspective why wouldn't you go with the man who could get you (and himself incidentally) the best deal? A self-made man deserves respect and he made a mark in an area where most go unnoticed - now he's gone on to collect his heavenly commission

[@menesebastiao2468]

Not self made and didn't get the best deals for his clients. Half of his former clients are either unhappy at their clubs or have had their careers ruined by his actions

[@andjelkozlotvor]

@@menesebastiao2468 Except Maxvell. He played in some of the biggest clubs in the Europe (Ajax, Inter, Barca) but no one knows how, and he played in one of the richest clubs ever (PSG) but none knows why :)

[@abitheburdn]

this shun a new light for me about how raiola really was as a person and agent. thanks TIFO!

[@danielokon9393]

Shone*

[@fandcljosh]

Can respect a man that is hated by clubs but loved by the people close to him

[@PissG]

Not a good point. Even thieves and war criminals are loved by their close families and friends. Rest In Pieces Mino. Your death doesn't diminish all those deeds you have done and those words you have said. Some things have gone too far.

[@mr.robertdobalina9199]

@@PissG very weird comment to make about a sports agent

[@PissG]

@@mr.robertdobalina9199 Sport agent who didn't really care about the sport, only cared about how many Bucks he would get from transfer bonus. Making slander comments about managers and coaches and clubs to bend the media his way. Truly rotten piece of work.

[@giancarloferrara1583]

@@PissG bro clearly didn't watch the first 20 seconds of the video.

[@00dude3]

Raiola ensures players get paid rather than the money lining the cheif executives pockets. He also acted as a shield for players (look how many people blame him and not the players who hired him)

[@LarryFeinburg]

Raiola ensured raiola got paid, that’s all

[@teddytatyo]

@@LarryFeinburg if that was the case players wont be engaging his services till his final breath, this is coming from someone who dislikes him

[@haba1715]

Absolutely, people think their clubs money is their own money, I don’t care if my team’s mega rich owners have to pay slightly more

[@thefootballlover1004]

@@teddytatyo why do you dislike him

[@joeb3052]

And the clubs were the ones paying him the huge amounts as well. He didn't hold a gun to their heads. The same as any agent, argue all you want against football agents the only people keeping them in business are the football clubs that hate them

[@FootballDrawn]

When I was making a video on him, my appreciation went up higher. He was a self-made man who elbowed his way to the top. While I wasn't a big fan of him him (as a football fan), one thing is for sure, he was pretty damn good in his work. Brilliant video, as always ⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽

[@jeremybilliards712]

Bro your channel is so underrated. Keep up the good work 🔥

[@FootballDrawn]

@@jeremybilliards712 Thank you sooo much dude. Really appreciate the love and support :))

[@unrulllyyy8163]

New subscriber😉. Good content bro

[@FootballDrawn]

@@unrulllyyy8163 Thank you sooo much for checking out my channel. Really glad you liked it dude :))

[@frankunodostres473]

yeah cause elbowing your way to the top is something to be admired for

[@chikedonaldibewuike4867]

Fitting tribute for a man like Raiola. Thanks for this TIFO/the Athletic.

[@deeztac]

Ibra apparently stood with Mino on his death bed, out of only a few people including Minos family and closest friends, shows how close their relationship was

[@miquelalbercaballell5813]

Mino Raiola was indeed a self-made man, who worked his way to the top and had amazing negotiation skills. But he is also one of the people who has caused a lot of problems of the modern football (big wages and transfer fees, no loyalty, players who think they are the best and do not teamwork...). I don't think his passing is a loss to football, although I whish him a peaceful rest.

[@Saturn-x]

No he was a good man who helped players make the money stop trying to make football secluded from others

[@donandres10]

He caused no problems. Stop your agenda.

[@miquelalbercaballell5813]

@@donandres10 I have no agenda, just a different opinion than yours 👍

[@miquelalbercaballell5813]

@@Saturn-x I'm not someone who can say if he was or not a good man, and neither are you. Everything depends on the side of the story you are looking at. I'm not secluding football from nobody, but all of this has created a bubble in all football fees and I don't think that's a good thing. Instead of using money to increase and help low-category and academies or medical staff, it's being used in useless stuff. Why does and intermediate get, for example, 10M in fees?

[@joelsiju2005]

@@donandres10 U remember Dollarumma . Then u know the issue

[@brianlongwood2139]

What a great video, a good tribute as well as honest but from both perspectives

[@mhkpt]

There’s a reason you never hear _players_ complaining about agents like Mendes and Raiola. And as a Benfica fan, I absolutely LOATHE Mendes, for all the garbage he unloads on Benfica, and all the gold he takes away every summer.

[@Felipe-wg3ni]

Great vid!! Really touched me Sad to see him go so soon

[@speedking7224]

Man did his own thing. Admirable to a certain extent

[@davidashmore3929]

I really enjoyed this video and his background story. Thank you.

[@TheSmokingBastard]

Man, I really love this channel’s videos. Thank you for another great.

[@chackobranthan9825]

The goal isn’t to live forever but to create a legacy that goes on to become immortalised in the hearts of people

[@cobygibson6967]

what a great video, good stuff

[@dlamini77]

Bloody Legend. RIP

[@darochavitor]

Apart from the always top notch content I HAVE to say: you have the best voices for videos on KZbin hahahah

[@tanakamurahwa9420]

Mino Raiola, that’s football heritage

[@jimbojimbo6873]

Alot of people say I don’t care what people think then go home and cry This man really lived the message, what a great life he lived

[@gandalf_thegrey]

"Im absolutely angry, second time in a few months they have written me dead"

[@mondlimathonsi3402]

Rest In Paradise Mino👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[@skarutd1740]

Brilliant video for people who don't know him well.

[@banjolaadesina6558]

RIP Mino 🙏🙏 But Ian on commentary sounds good, not talked about a enough 👌

[@wwehdizzle]

The guy you loved to hate. RIP Mino

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

He showed every team who's the real boss. That includes the United Glaziers. 😅😅

[@mizurily]

Glazers*

[@nurrr897]

Nice job narrating Iain

[@ryan5752]

Whatever we may perceive of him, i think you can look not too much further than how loyal and how highly his clients speaks of him. I think in that respect he is to be commended still tbh

[@amarrevolver4452]

“But, Tifo, the day you put out a hit's the day Man u admits That they put the hit out that got Riola killed, ah!” oh And I'm just playin', Tifo, you know I love you

[@SoundzCool]

Listening to Iain Macintosh narrate is lovely, it's like you're getting a reassuring hug whilst you go on a journey.

[@thelonesoldier4518]

Haha well said

[@odot1572]

Beautiful!!

[@Josh_TO]

The Great Mino!

[@daveoaktowers]

Whilst the money side of it all is eye watering his charisma and achievements are incredible. Would make a good TV show (but fictionalised). Also an idea for a story for a Tifo video is the one season Robert Prosinecki played at Portsmouth. He was world's apart from the other players (including a young Peter Crouch), left opposing players on their backside from his skills on the ball, enjoyed a smoke at half time. His influence and goals scored made him a cult hero at Portsmouth.

[@DenDave_]

Its funny, when he was alive most people disliked him because of the outrageous transfer-, signing on- and agentfees he demanded. And now that he's gone suddenly he was a good man and everyone seems to miss him. I didnt know him personally, all I know were his actions in and impact on the footballing world, and that impact is undeniably a massive inflation in transfer fees and salaries that Raiola had a big part in, putting clubs in the financial backfoot in the process. Im sure players loved him, because he got them good salaries, but for football as a whole his death might just be a good thing.

[@gandalf_thegrey]

It still dont like him.

[@thehappyloaf]

Lol you might just be right

[@khanyamosetlhi2530]

Football benefits how? It’s not like that money doesn’t go someone else. People just didn’t like that it went to Mini

[@vladirackpubama6785]

Same with Kobe. Many hated him before his death

[@ML3180]

Financial clubs are no saints lol.

[@ethanchinnian3963]

R.I.P

[@NuclearAtoms]

Wow I never knew how great he was before watching this video. This really was a great tribute to the Kings of all Agents Mino Riola 👏

[@VillaVelasco89]

I don't know why anyone is mourning this guy - was a cancer on the game, engineering moves for his players for his own benefit only, and was a nasty piece of work away from the game as well. This guy is no loss to the world

[@00dude3]

The players move because they want to. He can't force them lol Lukaku fired him for example. Raiola just ensures the most money goes to the players rather than the clubs owners and executives

[@VillaVelasco89]

@@00dude3 And he made a percentage of commission from each sale, so it didn't benefit him for a player to stay at a club for too long - his interest was money and nothing else. He always stirred his players up after a couple of years to force a move and line his pockets again. Not going to go so far as to say I'm glad he's gone, but I didn't give his death a second thought, and I don't know why anyone would. A horrible human being

[@teodordumitrescu]

You have a great voice Iain Macintosh!

[@ejim-obilochukwuka5612]

Rest In Perfect Peace. King Raiola 👑🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬❤

[@CamJem31]

Raaatted. Didn't even know man had passed. RIP

[@Jose-wd6kn]

used to hate him but now… i really respect him

[@hlokomani]

RIP Legend.

[@BaldursPicketFence]

It is always sad when some one passes. I am sure there is pain for those who care. I can’t say I feel anything when I learned the news of his passing. What he did in the past is done. Don’t think there’s much else to say.

[@danpreston564]

*dies *death Stop euphemising death.

[@de132]

@@danpreston564 Why not? Death is the realest thing to life. So real that it is unfathomable.

[@danpreston564]

@@de132 I’ve seen enough of it to fathom it. I hate all this 'passing' nonsense. It’s death.

[@danpreston564]

@@B00tieW4rriOR rock hard. Granite, me. Like Xhaka.

[@anansistirade5800]

R.I.P Mino gonna miss his disrupting the industrty

[@JigglePhysics3000]

That's funny, I live in Haarlem and have been to that restaurant on a few occasions. Small world.

[@manicpanic4486]

Fascinating, funny and very informative....never knew he was involved in those early 90s signing la like wim jonk and Bryan Roy

[@goat9295]

Great for footballers, terrible for fans of football clubs😭

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

raiola was a man of the people, a man who got his clients their fair share. r.i.p.

[@MainsMain]

You should do one about Jorge Mendes

[@LordWay]

NGL even as A United fan he wasn't wrong about the state of our club. Any player would love to have him as their agent tbh.

[@greatestanalyser2354]

Exactly, if Harry Kane had him he would have got that move

[@bianco9359]

'Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as ravens claws'. (Jim Morrison).

[@neovarleydownes9109]

Good Vid :0)

[@Revelian1982]

He only loved one thing..money.

[@sanzar4540]

And food

[@sympa_is_misanthropic]

Rest In Peace Mino 🏆👑

[@deanlow8447]

Get your illustrator to check their work on monitor and two phones before publishing, the red and yellow is tuned very very high. Could be on purpose, just a heads up

[@deanlow8447]

The thumbnail illustration specifically

[@emperor_najjashi975]

R.i.p

[@aaronagnew3443]

Are you guys going to do a sensible transfers series again?

[@Drunken_Master]

The best thing that happened to football in 2022.

[@jean-huguesbitaamenye8785]

RIP Mino.

[@harjonotanuwira8226]

Mino R.i.p

[@NostalgiNorden]

Is this a weird way of telling us that Joe Devine died?

[@hugosanchez5967]

Needed what a midfielder he was.

[@legendscleaningservices4587]

LEGENDS 🔥🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@pato1541]

People in this comment section seem to have the wrong idea of raiola. In fact i wouldn't be surprised if these are fake comments. Raiola is known for milking clubs for money but not because it's the best for his client, All he's doing is making the pie bigger so that his piece gets bigger. There's a reason majority of his clients are flops after their big money move and that's because he pays no attention to the players' style and where they would be best suited he just takes them to the place with the biggest cheque. It's also pretty well known that he uses his power in the industry to blacklist players or clubs when he has an issue with them. He is one of the worst things about the modern game.

[@MattijnPlayz]

"Raised in Angri"? His family move to Haarlem in 1968 when Raiola was 1 years old lol

[@user-te1le7ck6b]

Tifo like to massage facts 😭

[@hb3393]

Oh Ian, did you even try with the Italian pronunciations? 😂

[@angrydoge1331]

Can you make a video on Jorge Mendes?

[@andjelkozlotvor]

Every time you pronounce some Italian name one little kid from Italy dies.

[@santiagobauza4257]

Still hard to believe he's dead. Football will change permanently now, we won't see it not but in a while, but it will be big.

[@irshadkabeer571]

A good change

[@sanzar4540]

A good change

[@paulleroux386]

Paolo Sorrentino is ideal man to make a movie about Mino Raiola

[@kmlau1986]

Loved by the players, hated by the clubs.

[@robertgreen2620]

Does Joe Devine have a cold or are we living in a Tifo multiverse?

[@robmanda007]

Tifo sounds different

[@xjay1234]

Can't take those big agent fees with you when you depart this world.

[@sanzar4540]

Lmaoooo

[@xjay1234]

@@sanzar4540 NOT a laughing matter. Pointing out that what we achieve in this world means nothing when we face the other side.

[@bernardovalente4125]

I want a netflix series about football agents

[@ML3180]

Not the most likeable person in football especially to fans of the clubs he antagonized, but Raiola was one of the best agents in the game. Its no wonder that so many of his clients had high praise for him. RIP Mino.

[@manuel7102]

He represented all those big players and yet none of them has ever won the UCL (I'm pretty sure the only Raiola client who has won it is Maxwell), it says a lot about him prioritising money over sporting ambitions for his clients.

[@lukemiller_6]

Feel like there's a new narrator in this video. Possibly Seb? Very good regardless!

[@raffeeqrizal604]

It's Ian Macintosh

[@lukemiller_6]

@@raffeeqrizal604 thanks!

[@raffeeqrizal604]

@@lukemiller_6 You're welcome!

[@BretuLauk]

Raiola was ultra based. Who disagree are either greedy club executives or don't know ball.

[@GuinessOriginal]

His timely death saved city a fortune in agents fees

[@skullteck2028]

Fabrizio romano should be next

[@chico9902]

We need joe devine back

[@yungtrashlord]

i really don't like people like mino raiola for how he increased the prices of wages in football players, which, as someone who plays quite a fair bit of fm, can get annoying because i like to give my players as low wage as possible, with 0 agent fees 0 loyalty fee, so i can save more money for better players regardless, his passing is very untimely and condolences to his family and anyone close to him

[@joblakelisbon]

Mino Raiola didn't increase wages - the billion dollar TC contracts did. 90% of the highest earning players have agents you have never heard of.

[@user-te1le7ck6b]

Tifo again missing facts for charm but one things for sure I’ll take big man in my corner any day , if your not liked generally it means your doing a good job 👍

[@DerRoterKaiser]

Part of the poison of modern football.

[@danny9609]

Being a big Zlatan fan and getting the grit side from him this is a amazing tribute . The best a person for futbal can be a true talisman of the game

[@adamtoner3870]

Man whispered this whole video

[@ishmamrahman6305]

What happened to Joe Devine?

[@SkillsofAesthetics]

Before zlatan, his most footballers where bergam and nedved

[@celtic69]

A true champion of workers rights

[@gandalf_thegrey]

anything but workers rights

[@illspeak2398]

How Mino Raiola destroyed English football would of been a good headline

[@gandalf_thegrey]

Because he was only active in England...... Not.

[@illspeak2398]

I can only imagine

[@izzuddinfaruqi1493]

wheres Joe Devine?

[@jzilla1234]

Mino Payola

[@footballempireworld100]

What happened to our narrator? this isn't his voice

[@glaiver4ever]

When and why was Gareth Bale sidelined in the Real Madrid squad?

[@3serio]

He needs a biopic

[@shreyam1008]

Sensible transfers for Manchester city. It's that time of tbe year now.

[@decmcgovern9281]

Fair play to him!!!

[@riskivelino6143]

To put it simply, clubs and their fans hate him but players love him. Fantastic agent

[@muhammadsani9480]

Loved by his people hated by billion dollar corporations, good enough for me