Mino Raiola’s family understood the brief. When the world’s best-known football agent died earlier this year, aged just 54, their statement made no attempt to separate personal tragedy from professional swagger. “In infinite sorrow, we share the passing of the most caring and amazing football agent that ever was,” it read. “Mino fought until the end with the same strength he put on negotiation tables to defend our players.”
It’s what he would have wanted. Super-agents are super-aware of their importance, which is natural: you don’t justify collecting a reported £41 million from a transfer deal with bashful false modesty. Less natural, at least to football fans, are the figures involved. FIFA say agents received nearly £375m in fees from cross-border deals alone in 2021 – more than in 2020, despite total transfer fees falling. English clubs were responsible, or otherwise, for more than £100m of that.
For Manchester City, Erling Haaland is such a steal at £51m that even hefty bonuses for his father (Alfie) and agency (Raiola’s, now run by Rafaela Pimenta) make it a still-cheap £85m. Borussia Dortmund, who paid £17m for him in January 2020, will make roughly the same profit as Pimenta and Haaland Sr.
Such bumper payouts have their logic – the aforementioned £41m bonus was Raiola’s reward for talking Manchester United up to £89m in their ultimately ‘successful’ 2016 bid for Paul Pogba. They have their defenders too.
“I can justify it any day of the week,” Jon Smith, football’s first super-agent, tells FFT. “I understand that the commissions and wages are offensive to supporters, but they shouldn’t be. These guys bring in billions, so they should be paid millions. The football fan isn’t an unintelligent human being any more. They understand the game. But the nuances need to be explained better.”
We’ll do our best, Jon. We’ll also look at the power struggle that has led to FIFA’s efforts
