Being a top footballer pays and pays well, but guess what? Being a top footballer’s agent pays even better! Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest paid footballer in the world, but super agent Mino Raiola has pocketed more than what the Portuguese superstar earns in a year in this summer alone.
The Real Madrid superstar earns 21 million Euros per season, making him one of the best-paid sportsmen in the world. However, Raiola has earned an astonishing 30 million Euros this summer thanks to the commissions he has earned in brokering the deals of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester United.
Also Read: Who is Mino Raiola – The super agent behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba
The Pogba deal was worth 105 million euros in which Raiola alone pocketed a cool 20 million euros. He also made 8 million from the Mkhitaryan deal and although Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a free transfer, he still made close to 3 million from it, taking his total earnings this summer to a little over 30 million euros.
This summer sees Raiola emerge as the game’s premier super agent pushing Jorge Mendes to the background.
Mino Raiola – Top 10 biggest deals
Mino Raiola has shown his acute knowledge of the transfer market, transferring his clients from club-to-club on their whims, negotiating lucrative relationships with major clubs and even hacking deals of players his firm don’t represent. His biggest success story is without doubt Zlatan Ibrahimovic, having taken the big Swede across Europe’s biggest clubs before finally bringing him to Mourinho’s United. However, with over $450 millions in transfer, he’s done plenty of other mega-money deals. Here is a breakdown of his top 10 transfer deals:
| Number | Player | Buying Club | Selling Club | Transfer fee |
| 10 | Ibrahimovic | Juventus | Ajax | €16 million |
| 9 | Balotelli | Manchester City | Inter Milan | €20 million |
| 8 | Balotelli | Liverpool | AC Milan | €20 million |
| 7 | Ibrahimovic | AC Milan | Barcelona | €24 million |
| 6 | Balotelli | AC Milan | Manchester City | €24 million |
| 5 | Ibrahimovic | Inter Milan | Juventus | €24.8 million |
| 4 | Mkhitayran | Manchester United | Borussia Dortmund | €28 million |
| 3 | Nedved | Juventus | Lazio | €41 million |
| 2 | Ibrahimovic | Barcelona | Inter Milan | €46 million |
| 1 | Pogba | Manchester United | Juventus | €105 million |
The role of agents in a big player’s transfer is gaining more and more importance and in an age of inflated transfer fees, it is sad to see someone like Mino Raiola earn more than the game’s premier footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, only through brokering deals of high profile players.
