Mino Raiola, who represented some of football’s most famous players, has died aged 54.
The stable Dutch-Italian squad includes Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Raiola is also the president of the Football Forum, which represents top agents and their players.
“His presence will be forever missed,” Raiola’s family said in a statement.
It read: “In infinite sadness, we share the passing of the most caring and amazing football agent ever.
“Mino fought to the end with the same strength that he put on the negotiating table to protect our players. As usual, Mino made us proud and never realized it.
“Mino has touched so many lives through his work and written a new chapter in modern football history.”
The statement added: “Mino’s mission to make football a better place for players will continue with the same passion.
“We thank everyone for the enormous amount of support received during this difficult time and ask to respect the privacy of family and friends during this time of grief.”
Raiola, who also represents Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, Italian striker Mario Balotelli and Dutch midfielder Matthijs de Ligt, are controversial and influential figures in world football.
He has been involved in runaways with a host of managers, including former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, but told BBC sports editor Dan Roan in 2021 that he learned from the situations he was in.
There are claims that Raiola made £41m from Pogba’s world-record £89m transfer from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016 and while that increased criticism of the agents, Raiola asserting perceptions of greed and excess is unfair.
“It’s not always good to hear stereotypes like that,” Raiola said last year.
“But perhaps the public might also think: ‘If this man is so greedy and lousy, how can his players be happy and stay with him?’
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me… how can you judge whether I’m a good agent for Ibrahimovic? The only person who can judge that is Ibra himself. .
“I have no power and influence … my duty is to fulfill the best contract for my player. And nothing more. And to do that is to provide him with a full range of services. service that people don’t even know about.
“My players don’t call me a parasite, and that’s who I work for. I just care what the players call me.”
Raiola has also spoken of his opposition to Fifa – the governing body of world football – bringing New rules for dealers.
