'Big mouth' agent Raiola has earned grudging respect

HAARLEM, Netherlands - Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans or tracksuit and sneakers, it is easy to mistake Mino Raiola for just another chubby beer-loving soccer fan rather than the razor-sharp mind who dominates the world transfer market.

Raiola, whose Italian roots and love of pasta is highlighted by his family's pizza restaurant, is said to have been instrumental in orchestrating Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku's latest signing at Manchester United for a reported $97 million over the weekend.

The 24-year-old's transfer from Everton - for a record fee between British clubs - was reportedly supported by another of Raiola's proteges and Lukaku's close friend, Paul Pogba.

It was Raiola who masterminded Pogba's own record-smashing $119 million return to the Red Devils a year ago.

He has looked after Swedish great Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the last 15 years and also manages Mario Balotelli, Blaise Matuidi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Raiola did extremely well out of United last year making an estimated $4 million from Pogba's transfer from Juventus alone, while stablemates Mkhitaryan and Ibrahimovic also joined at Old Trafford.

Raiola is "a man that always thinks ahead and he's a perfectionist who's always working unbelievably hard to get the best deals for his players," Willem Vissers, a Dutch soccer writer for the respected daily De Volkskrant, told AFP on the weekend.

Raiola was born into humble roots. His family owns a traditional pizza restaurant in the Dutch medieval city of Haarlem.

He first honed his skills in soccer and the art of negotiating while waiting tables at the Ristorante Napoli.

"The board of the (now defunct) local club Haarlem FC used to come and dine there at least once a week," said Edwin Struis, a freelance soccer writer who worked at a Haarlem paper in the early 1990s.

"Warranted or unwarranted, Mino would chirp in, giving his opinions on the state of the club and soccer in general.

"It got to a point where they simply said, 'Since you know so much, why don't you just join the board?'"

Raiola briefly worked as technical director at Haarlem FC, but he had much grander ideas, including setting up a partnership to transfer players from Italian club Napoli.

Naples is close to the southern Italian city of Nocera Inferiore, from where Raiola moved with his parents when he was just a year old in 1968.

Many in soccer mistakenly brushed aside Raiola because of his jeans-and-T-shirt wardrobe.

Even Ibrahimovic in his autobiography I am Zlatan said he thought Raiola was a character from The Sopranos TV series when they first met.

"In the beginning they all underestimated him because of the way he dressed," said Vissers, who has interviewed the elusive agent and been a keen follower of his career.

These days, nobody dismisses Raiola, one of the most powerful people in soccer.

His first big break came with the signing of Czech midfield star Pavel Nedved, a former Ballon d'Or winner, in 1992.

After that, other greats like Ibrahimovic and Pogba - and now Lukaku - followed.

It is not all plain-sailing for Raiola, however. The Football Leaks media consortium alleged late last year that the agent had transferred Pogba's multi-million image rights to the offshore haven of Jersey. The agent has dismissed the reports as imaginary.

Raiola's own income and tendency to shoot from the hip has earned him the admiration - and ire - of many in soccer.

"Unfortunately, he's made it a bit of a habit to insult people," said Struis.

Five years ago, Barcelona threatened to break ties with Raiola after he criticized then coach Pep Guardiola over his deteriorating relationship with Ibrahimovic.

He crossed the line for many in the Netherlands when he called late national soccer icon Johan Cruyff "demented" for allegedly suggesting that ex-players should be given top soccer industry jobs.

Raiola later apologized to Cruyff, but said he stood by his viewpoints on jobs for pals.

"He has a sharp tongue - some would even say he's a bit of a loudmouth that uses lots of words but doesn't say much," said Struis.

Gael Mahe, a former Pogba representative, calls Raiola a "genius" for his deal making.

"He is the Donald Trump of soccer, a big mouth who knows how to sell and who has built his own skyscrapers. Each of his players has virtually the value of a Manhattan building," Mahe said.

Agence France-Presse