Football is more than just players or managers these days. At a time when commercialism has chewed in on everything, footballers have become brands that ooze cash with as much as a jerk or vibration.
And to bring out the maximum financial potential of a player, an agent is an absolute necessity. Among them, some agents are really powerful. The likes of Jorge Mendes have become a household name in the world of football.
But there is another who is on a level of his own: Mino Raiola. Among all agents, he is the most volatile and doesn’t shy away from giving quirky responses every now and then. And here are 5 such instances when he did…
Mental hospital
"I think Cruyff and Guardiola can go to a mental hospital together, shut up, sit there and play cards together. They would do football and Barcelona a great service."
Pep Guardiola didn’t have the best of relationships with the duo of Mino Raiola and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Indeed, the two never missed a chance to have a go at the former Barcelona manager or anyone who criticized them regarding anything.
Johan Cruyff was another personality who never shied away from speaking his mind. He was also a critic of the Swede and when he went on one of his rants on the former Juventus forward, Mino Raiola retorted with all guns blazing.
Alex Ferguson is wrong
“Maybe Ferguson only likes those who obey him. From his quotes, I understand that Ferguson still doesn’t have a clue who Pogba really is.”
Mino Raiola is one of those agents who is known to protect his clients and himself with fervor. There is no football personality in this world that has said something unpleasant about him or one of his clients and got away with it.
So when Sir Alex Ferguson blamed Raiola for manipulating Paul Pogba to move to Juventus, the Italian instantly hit back with the aforementioned quote.
Twice more than Gareth Bale
"Pogba is worth more than Bale. If the Welshman is worth 100 million, then Pogba is worth twice as much"
This was another classic example of Raiola exaggerating the worth of his clients. In his mind. His clients are the best and there is nothing that can make him believe otherwise.
As Real Madrid signed Gareth Bale for a huge fee of 100 million Euros according to some, and 91 million Euros if the club itself were to be believed, Raiola wasn’t afraid to make this astonishing claim about his prized asset.
Although, it now seems like Pogba could indeed end up becoming the most expensive player of all time.
The Ballon d’Or claim
"If Mario Balotelli had Zlatan Ibrahimovic's head, Lionel Messi would have fewer Ballon d'Or awards.”
If you saw the list of clients that Mino Raiola possessed, you could instantly figure out a pattern; most of them are somewhat controversial. Mario Balotelli is one among them. The Italian forward is one of the most volatile players of our generation, someone whose antics have halted his development.
Mino Raiola is of the same opinion as well, although we don’t really think that Mario Balotelli could actually have been a competitor to Messi even if he hit his peak.
Suggestion to Real Madrid
"Kroos’ brother says he is worth €120m. If I were Real Madrid, I’d sell Kroos & buy a new team, really."
And this is the most recent of his brilliantly insane quote. When rumours surfaced that Juventus wanted Toni Kroos and 120 million Euros for Paul Pogba, Toni’s brother Felix was deeply offended by it and suggested that his brother is worth Pogba and 120 million Euros instead.
As usual, this didn’t go down well with the super agent as he gave a slamming response to little Kroos’ quote in his own characteristic all-offense-no-defense way.
