Raiola: 5 super players top clubs may avoid signing in the future
Carmine “Mino” Raiola is a Dutch-Italian football agent representing a number of prominent football stars. He recently became the victim of another social media backlash and criticism in some parts of the world of football when he opined that the time of Manchester United player, Paul Pogba, has come to an end at Old Trafford.
Raiola is no stranger to causing disruptions at Manchester United and in other clubs where his clients play. Former Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson, described his first meeting with Raiola as a ‘fiasco’, saying he and him were like oil and water.
Ferguson then doubled-down with his criticism of Raiola in his autobiography, published in 2015, where he wrote: “There are one or two football agents I simply do not like, and Mino Raiola is one of them.”
Amidst the criticism, he is on top of his career as other Mino Raiola clients include prominent names like Zlatan Ibrahimović, Jesse Lingard, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marco Verratti, Blaise Matuidi, and Mario Balotelli.
Raiola’s reputation for disruptions may be a bottleneck to the transfer of his clients to top clubs in the future. Daily Times examines six fast-rising football youngsters whose transfer to top clubs may be hinged on their agent, Mino Raiola, reputation.
1. Erling Haaland: Haaland is a twenty years old Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. He started his career at his hometown club Bryne FK in 2016 and moved to Molde FK the next year where he spent two years, before signing with the Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg in January 2019. With Salzburg, he won the Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup.
In the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, he became the first teenager to score in five consecutive UEFA Champions League matches. In December 2019, Haaland completed a transfer to Borussia Dortmund for a fee reported to be in the region of €20 million. He became the second teenager to score 10 goals in the UEFA Champions League during the 2019-20 campaign, making him win the 2020 Golden Boy award.
Haaland set a record at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he scored nine goals in a match, making him go home with the tournament’s Golden Boot award.
2. Paul Pogba: Pogba joined the youth team of Ligue 1 side Le Havre in 2007, before moving to Manchester United two years later. Lack of playtime made him leave United for Juventus on a free transfer in 2012.
At Juventus, Pogba helped the club win four sequential Serie A titles, as well as Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. During his time in Italy, Pogba further settled himself as one of the most promising youthful talents on the planet and got the Golden Boy Award in 2013, then, the Bravo Award in 2014. In 2016, Pogba was named to the 2015 UEFA Team of the Year, just as the 2015 FIFA FIFPro World XI, subsequent to helping Juventus to the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, their first in twelve years.
Pogba’s returned to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-world record move fee of €105 million (£89.3 million). The expense paid for him remains the most paid by an English club.
He captained France to triumph at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and brought home the honor for the Best Player for his exhibitions during the competition. He made his introduction for the senior group a year later and highlighted conspicuously at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was granted the Best Young Player Award for his exhibitions. He later represented France at the UEFA Euro 2016 on home soil, where he made the second place, before going on to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
3. Matthijs de Ligt: De Ligt became the youngest player to ever start for the Dutch National Team since 1931 when he made his debut for the Netherlands at the age of 17 in 2017.
He made his debut for Ajax’s senior team in a cup game against Willem II on 21 September 2016. He scored from a corner after 25 minutes, making him the second-youngest goal scorer ever behind Clarence Seedorf.
On 24 May, he became the youngest player ever (17 years and 285 days old) to play in a major European final when he started against Manchester United in the 2017 UEFA Europa League Final.
On 17 December 2018, De Ligt won the Golden Boy award, becoming the first defender to win the award. The following season, he helped Ajax capture a domestic double and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League; his performances earned him a move to Serie A side Juventus and saw him win the Kopa Trophy in 2019. He won the Serie A title during his first season with Juventus.
4. Gianluigi Donnarumma: Donnarumma is the AC Millan and Italy’s number one shot-stopper. He is also one of the most promising goalies in the world. He became the second-youngest goalkeeper ever to debut in Serie A in 2015 when he first featured for Milan, aged 16 years and 242 days; he immediately broke into the starting line-up.
He also broke the record as the youngest Italy under-21 player ever to play, aged 17 years and 28 days in March 2016. Six months later, he made his senior international debut, becoming the youngest goalkeeper ever to appear for Italy, aged 17 years and 189 days.
5. Xavi Simmons: Xavier Quentin Shay Simons is an eighteen years old Dutch footballer who plays as a midfielder for French team Paris Saint-Germain U19. He is the son of former Dutch footballer Regillio Simons.
Simons joined the youth setup of Barcelona in 2010 and quickly progressed to become one of the Spanish club’s most highly rated youth players, attracting offers from Chelsea and Real Madrid. Simons moved to French side Paris Saint-Germain, after failing to agree to a new contract with Barcelona, for a deal reportedly up to €1 million annually.
Simons has represented the Netherlands at under-15, under-16, and under-17 level. In March 2020, Simons was named on Goal’s “NxGn 2020” list of 50 best wonderkids in world football. He was included in The Guardian’s “Next Generation 2020”
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