Mino Raiola is fighting for his life in hospital, with the football agent having strongly condemned the fake news that spread on social media claiming he had died.
Raiola represents countless big names across Europe’s major leagues and has helped broker a number of high-profile deals involving the likes of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
It was widely reported that the Italian had passed away at the age of 54, with Raiola having released an update on his social media expressing his disgust at the fake news.
Raiola sent a message to his followers on Twitter amid the speculation over his health, which reads: “Current health status for the ones wondering: pissed off second time in 4 months they kill me. Seem also able to resuscitate.”
Meanwhile, the super agent’s close friend Jose Fortes Rodriguez has slammed the reports of his death, telling De Telegraaf: “Mino isn’t dead. Those reports are nonsense.”
Doctor Alberto Zangrillo from San Raffaele Hospital in Milan has added: “I’m outraged by the phone calls from pseudo-journalists speculating on the life of a man who is fighting to survive.”
Raiola had previously been in hospital in January and underwent surgery on an unspecified issue.
A statement from his official Twitter account at the time read: “Mino Raiola is undergoing ordinary medical checks that require anaesthesia. All was planned and no emergency surgery happened.”
In addition to the vast number of news outlets to falsely report Raiola’s death, Real Madrid also posted a message of condolence via their official social media channels.
The post, which has now been deleted, read: “Real Madrid CF, its president and its Board of Directors deeply regret the death of Mino Raiola and would like to express their condolences, their affection and their affection to all his relatives and loved ones.”
Raiola’s star-studded client list includes the likes of Pogba, Ibrahimovic and Erling Haaland, and in 2020 it was reported that he had a net worth of £62 million ($77m).
The agent has a reputation for securing big-money contracts for his clients, and is reportedly helping to negotiate terms for Haaland ahead of his proposed transfer away from Borussia Dortmund this summer.
Matthijs de Ligt’s €73m (£62m/$77m) move to Juventus from Ajax in 2019 was overseen by Raiola, while he was also involved in Gianluigi Donnarumma’s free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain following his Milan exit last year.
Raiola represents Italy duo Mario Balotelli and Marco Verratti too, as well as Ajax’s latest prospect Ryan Gravenberch and Inter’s Denzel Dumfries.
Source:goal.com
