Friends of Mino Raiola have contradicted reports in Italy that he has died but the prominent football agent is ‘very, very ill’ and fighting for his life in hospital.
The football world was left stunned on Thursday by reports from his native country that Raiola had passed away at the age of just 54.
But it emerged that these reports were premature with the man himself ‘pissed off’ and his doctor ‘outraged’ at reports of his demise.
Raiola himself took to Twitter to write: “Current health status for the ones wondering: pissed off second time in 4 months they kill me. Seem also able to ressuscitate [sic].”
Alberto Zangrillo, head of the anaesthesia and intensive care unit of San Raffaele hospital in Milan, said: “I am outraged by the phone calls from pseudo journalists who speculate on the life of a man who is fighting.”
Raiola’s right-hand man Jose Fortes Rodriguez told NOS in Holland: “He is in a bad position, but he hasn’t died.”
Another source confirmed he is ‘very, very ill.’
Raiola is the agent for such stars as Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Raiola was hospitalised in Milan back in January and underwent very delicate surgery but the nature of the illness was not revealed.
Reports said at the time the condition wasn’t life-threatening and that Raiola would begin a period of rehabilitation at home but he is now back in intensive care.
The multi-lingual football agent worked his way up from humble beginnings working in a pizza restaurant to become one of the most influential figures in the world game, brokering mega-deals involving some of the most prominent players.
He is representative to the likes of Pogba, Haaland, Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku, Mario Balotelli, Marco Verratti and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Forbes estimated last year that Raiola’s personal wealth was in the region of £62m.
It was reported that Raiola earned as much as £20million from the world record £89m sale of Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016.
It had been shaping up to be a busy summer for Raiola, with Pogba and Haaland among his clients expected to be on the move.
During the early 1990s, Raiola worked for the Sports Promotions, a company in Holland, and assisted with the transfers of several high-profile Dutch players, including Dennis Bergkamp, to Italian clubs.
Raiola has overseen some of the most lucrative transfers in world football in recent years
Daily Mail
