Soccer super agent Raiola dies at 54 after long illness

MILAN (AP) — Mino Raiola, the influential and often controversial sports agent to some of soccer's biggest players, has died. He was 54.

Raiola died after a long illness, his family confirmed on Saturday. He had been undergoing treatment at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, where he was visited by Zlatan Ibrahimović this week. Raiola underwent surgery in January but it was said at the time that it was not life-threatening.

“In infinite sorrow we share the passing of the most caring and amazing football agent that ever was,” read a post from “The Raiola Family” on his social media accounts.

“Mino fought until the end with the same strength he put on negotiation tables to defend our players. As usual, Mino made us proud and never realized it.”

Raiola was the agent of stars such as Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba, as well as Ibrahimović.

He was famous for getting his players big-money moves but also drew the ire of soccer managers, including Alex Ferguson after he negotiated Pogba’s transfer from Manchester United to Juventus in 2012.

He also dealt with Pogba’s return to United in 2016 for a then-world-record fee of 105 million euros (then $116 million) of which Raiola earned 27 million euros ($30 million). He was paid millions more by Pogba and United.

Raiola was in the process of negotiating Haaland’s expected move away from Borussia Dortmund this summer, with Manchester City one of several possible destinations for the Norwegian starlet.

Raiola also oversaw the departure of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from childhood club AC Milan to Paris Saint-Germain last year. Mario Balotelli was another of his clients.

“Mino touched so many lives through his work and wrote a new chapter in the history of modern football. His