BarcelonaThe Italian press has reported the death of player representative Carmine Mino Raiola, but Raiola himself has denied it. This is the second time in four months that the Italian press has announced the death of Raiola, who is in a serious hospital in Milan.
Raiola (Nocera Inferiore, Campania, 1968) was operated on this January and in recent days his health has been deteriorating, until this morning, when media such as The Gazzetta dello Sport o The Corriere della Sera they have reported his death. After an hour, however, sources close to him denied it.
Raiola first met footballers when he was 18 and was making pizzas at the restaurant his father had opened in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The son of a family from southern Italy who emigrated, Raiola softly worked with his father while playing football without much luck. According to him, at the age of 21 he was seriously injured and decided to stop playing to move to the offices, and became part of the Haarlem board.
Ambitious like few others, at the age of 24 he contacted the controversial president of Naples Maradona, Corrado Ferlaino, to propose a business: that he invest in Haarlem and in return sign all the young talents of Dutch football. Ferlaino did not accept the deal, but Raiola took the opportunity to learn and make contacts. Taking advantage of the fact that he spoke Italian, Raiola opened a bridge between the Netherlands and Serie A bringing Bryan Roy from Ajax to Foggia in 1992. Shortly afterwards, he did his first big business, when he had much of the responsibility in the transfer of Bergkamp from Ajax to Inter. He had met the player in 1992, when Ferlaino had asked him to help him sign him. The operation did not go ahead, but it allowed Raiola to gain Bergkamp’s trust.
Since then he has a long list that includes men such as Ibrahimovic, Donnarumma, Maxwell, Nedved, Mario Balotelli, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the dreamed-of midfielder Europa Haaland. In fact, until recently he was personally negotiating with clubs that wanted the Norwegian striker. The Pizzaiolo, as he was known, he built an empire and negotiated many times with Barça.
