Football 'super agent' Raiola passes away after battle with illness
Mino Raiola speaks to journalists during a presentation.
Gulf Today Report
Football "super agent" Mino Raiola passed away at the age of 54 in an Italian hospital after battling illness, family announced on Saturday.
Raiola was born in Italy, and grew up in the Netherlands before becoming one of the most powerful soccer agents in the world, with clients including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba.
Earlier on Thursday, some media reported his death, but angry Raiola hit back at them.
Raiola's agency on Thursday said: "Mino is not dead, the stories are fake news."
The agency would not reveal Raiola's whereabouts nor whether he was sick.
Raiola is considered one of the very important figures in some of the upcoming deals during the "summer Mercato," after he was finalising the transfer of Norwegian Halland to Manchester City, and he is also negotiating the departure of Frenchman Paul Pogba from Manchester United after his contract expires on June 30.
Raiola is an agent for a number of football stars such as the Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was the reason for his fame as an agent, Italy goalkeeper Donnarumma and Dutch defender De Ligt.
Raiola studied law, took up business, learned languages and also loved football and wanted to be a player agent.
According to GOAL, Raiola is still alive. The website quoted Raiola's close friend, Jose Fortes Rodriguez, as telling the Dutch newspaper, "De Telegraaf," that "Raiola is not dead, these reports are meaningless."
Alberto Zangrillo, the doctor supervising Raiola's treatment, posted a tweet through his official account on the social networking site "Twitter" to deny the news, saying: "I am angry at the repeated calls by journalists about the death of a man fighting for his life."
