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As football is growing to be an increasingly commercialized sport, the importance of mediators and middle-men are increasing, as people deal with other people through these sources. The biggest example of this can be the current rise of agents that are brokering deal for players to clubs. These deals have a more than handsome pay-packet for the agents, which has caused them to be one of the richest men in football.
They are the most powerful men in football because they control where the best players will go. If a manager falls out with an agent, that agent will probably never sell his players to that manager, or worse, ensure that that club face his wrath. So who are 5 of these agents? Let's find out:
#5 Volker Struth
Agency: SportsTotal
Net Worth: $34.26 M
Contract Value Under Management: $342.6 M
Notable players: Toni Kroos, Marco Reus, Benedikt Höwedes, Ömer Toprak, Gonzalo Castro, Josip Drmic
German agent Volker Struth has become one of the biggest agents in world football as the principal representative of some of the best German and Bundesliga players.
He came into mainstream fame after his divorce with client Mario Gotze, who he picked up while he was still a youngster. He brokered the deal for the former to leave Dortmund for Bavarian outfit, Bayern Munich. They split while Gotze was in Bayern, and Struth came out very critically against Pep Guardiola for what he did to Gotze's confidence while in Bavaria.
He still has plenty of talent on his books, like Real Madrid star Toni Kroos and Borussia Dortmund stalwarts Toprak and Reus.
#4 Mino Raiola
Agency: Mino Raiola S.P.
Net Worth: $62.89 M
Contract Value Under Management: $628.9 M
Notable Players: Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mario Balotelli, Romelu Lukaku.
Former pizza man Mino Raiola has had one of the truly remarkable stories as a football agent. Arguably one of the most high profile agents in football today, Raiola was part of massive moves in Europe as early as 1993, when he was part of Dennis Bergkamp's move to Inter Milan. His first major independent transfer was Pavel Nedved to Lazio, and then to Juventus.
He rose to even more fame after aligning himself with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2003, after the intervention of Ibrahimovic's best friend and Raiola's client, Maxwell Scherrer. He brokered Zlatan's moves all over Europe to clubs like Juventus, FC Barcelona and Manchester United, among others.
Today, Raiola's clientele include the biggest stars in football. He brought Henrik Mkhitaryan, Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba to Old Trafford. Pogba's record transfer helped Mino pocket over $25M and he bought the former Al Capone mansion in the United States. A flashy, yet loyal agent, many players rely on Mino for all their dealings, even outside football.
#3 Jonathan Barnett
Agency: Stellar Group.
Net Worth: $79.56 M
Contract Value Under Management: $795.6 M
Notable Players: Gareth Bale, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Grzegorz Krychowiak, Adam Lallana, Joe Hart, Luke Shaw, Ashley Cole.
Jonathan Barnett is a man that called out the iconic (spoilers) Jorge Mendes after breaking the world transfer record with the transfer of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur. He also was the agent of Luke Shaw when he became the most expensive teenage transfer from Southampton to Manchester United.
He has attacked FIFA and the English FA, as he said to The Guardian, “If I’m cold and callous, I don’t care. What frustrates me is the lack of understanding by FIFA and the FA of what a proper agency does. It’s absolutely ridiculous that they come up with rules when nobody knows what they’re talking about. They haven’t got a clue.”
He has claimed to have the largest football agency in the world, with only Jorge Mendes being close to his status of wealth. However, this list has him only on third place and behind the man he considers his closest rival.
#2 Jorge Mendes
Agency: Gestifute International
Net Worth: $100.52 M
Contract Value Under Management: $1 B
Notable Players: Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Renato Sanches, William Carvalho, Thiago Silva, James Rodriguez, Diego Costa, Angel Di Maria, Bernardo Silva.
Jorge Mendes is easily the most recognizable name in football agency. He is the agent to some of the biggest players in football history and has been awarded the Globe Soccer Agent of the Year award a mammoth 7 times, having lost this award only once to Mino Raiola.
He can be credited with changing English football forever, as he introduced manager Jose Mourinho to England after getting him to Chelsea. A multitude of Mendes players have ended up in England, with just a few being Deco, Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao, Ricardo Carvalho, Ricardo Quaresma and Paulo Ferreira. These were players that only went to Chelsea. Manchester United saw clients like Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel di Maria, Radamel Falcao (again), Bebe, Anderson etc. all arrive at Old Trafford because of Mendes's tremendous influence. He currently is changing the landscape of even the second-tier of English football, as he signed some of his most promising Portuguese talents like Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Mendes was also key to the revitalizing French football after a trio of his players made big money moves to Monaco. these players were Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao (him again). His latest big deal was Bernardo Silva's move to Manchester City from Monaco.
#1 Constantin Dumitrascu
Agency: Mondial Sports Management
Net Worth: $107.8 M
Contract Value Under Management: $1.1 B
Notable Players: Edinson Cavani, Phillipe Coutinho, Douglas Costa, Nemanja Matic, Dimitri Payet, Kante N'Golo, Riyad Mahrez
Not only the biggest football agent but the biggest sports agent in the world, Constantin Dumitrascu has been silent, yet the most powerful man in football. His business style approach endears him to owners of clubs, and they prefer dealing with him for transfers. His professionalism and loyalty to his players make a very successful combo.
However, he is a man of mystery. No one has heard of him and he is known to be extremely apprehensive to reporters. Most people say that he doesn't exist, as all his data from the transfer market has been removed. He topped the Forbes list of football agents as well, but today who or what he is is a mystery.
His alleged Mondial Sports Agency, however, has been credited with making multiple moves across the world, such as Alexandre Pato to Chelsea, Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham, Axel Witsel to Jiangsu Suning, among many others.
Whether or not the stories surrounding are true, he continues to be listed as one of the biggest football agents in the world and one of the richest according to most sources, until trasnfer market decided to remove him from their website.
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