2) Mino Raiola
An enigmatic agent who is renown for going to any lengths for his clients, Mino Raiola has found himself elevated to super star status after engineering the transfers of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba (for a world record fee) to Manchester United.
More importantly, the much-anticipated deal for Paul Pogba not only highlighted Raiola’s status as a super agent but also netted him a cool £20 million. Raiola specialises in cultivating an elite stable of footballers which also include Blaise Matuidi, Romelu Lukaku and Mario Balotelli.
He has a proven track record in getting his clients mammoth deals but was also known for enticing Pogba to leave Manchester United in 2012 after the Frenchman was left frustrated by Ferguson’s refusal to give him playing time.
Nevertheless, Raiola has firmly established himself as one of the most powerful men in football.
1) Jorge Mendes
Perhaps the most powerful agent in the world of football is Jorge Mendes. He has been recognised as FIFA’s Agent of the Year multiple times and has a star-studded list of clients of which Cristiano Ronaldo is the crown jewel. The Portuguese’s then world record transfer in 2009 to Real Madrid had in itself made Mendes richer by £4 million.
In the 2014 window alone, Mendes brokered four of the seven biggest deals worldwide (Di Maria, Falcao, Diego Costa, Eliaquim Mangala) from which he earned an estimated £30 million. In fact, he is claimed to be responsible for 68% of the transfers done in Portugal in the 2001-2010 decade. Astonishing!
In what is high praise, Sir Alex Ferguson called Mendes the best agent he ever worked with. He was also instrumental in Peter Lim’s takeover of Valencia and was involved in the recent takeover of AC Milan by a Chinese consortium.
James Rodriguez, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe, David De Gea and Jose Mourinho are some of Mendes’ clients, which makes him the undisputed king of agents in football.
