“Don’t joke in paradise, they know the truth. I love you, Mino Raiola”, Italian soccer fires the influential businessman

Italian soccer leaders and representatives bid farewell to the sports representative Mino Raiola, who died this Saturday at the age of 54, whom they remembered for his character and his role in the world soccer market.

“Don’t joke in paradise, they know the truth. I love you, Mina.” tweeted the president of Juventus, Andrea Agnelli, a club to which Raiola brought players like the French midfielder Paul Pogba (2012-2016) or the current Dutch defender Matthijs De Ligt.

Some clubs such as AC Milan or Inter, in which Raiola mediated their signings, also expressed their condolences to their loved ones in “this moment of pain”.

Director Adriano Galliani, currently at the helm of Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza, conveyed his affection to the family for the loss of this “friend” whom he described as “a great agent, an innovator in his sector and always loyal in negotiations”.

Also the president of Naples, Aurelio Di Laurentiis, lamented this “painful” news for him and his club: “The most heartfelt and sincere condolences and our closeness to his family,” he said.

The CEO of Inter, Beppe Marotta, assured that he was “a person of high competence” with whom he lived “positive moments, collaboration and intense work”, although there were also some discrepancies, he explained to the Ansa agency.

“But he was always correct and respectful of people and their professionalism. The memories are many, one of them the double operation for Pogba, with the move from Manchester United to Juventus and from Juventus to Manchester United. A masterpiece in which Raiola played an important role”, he maintained.

And he added: “The world of football loses a great professional, often critical of the system, but his criticism was very constructive and for a better football.”

Raiola, sports representative of the Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Norwegian Erling Haaland or the Frenchman Paul Pogba, has died after spending several days admitted to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan (north) for an unclarified illness.

“It is with infinite sorrow that we announce the death of Mino, the most extraordinary agent ever. Mino has fought until the last moment with all his strength as he did to defend the footballers, ”the family announced on social networks.

The Italian representative of elite soccer had undergone surgery in this same hospital in January of last year.

Born in 1967 in Nocera Inferiore, in the Campania region (south), he was one of the most important sports agents on the world scene and has marked the last 20 years of football, also making a fortune thanks to his large commissions.

In his long and successful career, Raiola closed millionaire operations such as the transfer of Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United for the record amount for Italian football of 105 million euros.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, from Paris Saint Germain, and the Dutchman Matthijs De Ligt, from Juventus, are other players represented by Raiola.

At the moment he was also representing Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, wanted by some of the big clubs on the continent, such as Real Madrid or FC Barcelona. (D)