Whilst the professional players of today's game enjoy a lifestyle of stardom, parties and money, their dirty work is carried out by the football agents who represent them. However, a handful of football agents in the world become multi-millionaires living extravagant lifestyles similar to the players they represent.
Let's take a look at the two most successful super-agents in today's game.
Jorge Mendes
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Mendes is a Portuguese football agent representing many of the best players in the world. The majority of his clients are Portuguese as Mendes started his career in his home country, however this has not stopped him grasping worldwide stars from other countries too.
Clients:
- Thiago Silva
- Radamel Falcao
- Ezequiel Garay
- Ellaquim Mangala
- William Carvalho
- David De Gea
- Diego Costa
- Angel Di Maria
- James Rodriguez
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Joao Moutinho
- Carlos Vela
- Jose Mourinho (manager)
These are just a select few of the 91 clients Jorge Mendes currently manages. The Portuguese businessman has a net worth of $72.7million, whilst claiming three FIFA Agent of The Year Awards and managing one of the world's best ever players in Cristiano Ronaldo. Mendes' agency is called Gestifute International.
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Mendes' career as a football agent began when he met Portuguese goalkeeper Nuno Espírito Santo in a bar near Braga, Portugal.
He became close with the player and eventually helped him secure a move to Deportivo from a Portuguese side called Vitoria S.C. Mendes gradually built up his reputation and secured moves for Portuguese players to big leagues around the world, one of the first being Hugo Viana's move to Newcastle United in 2002 - this was Mendes' first major international transfer.
Image: PA
The Portuguese agent spent a lot of his time watching youngsters at Portuguese football schools and clubs, which led to him spotting the talent of a certain young Cristiano Ronaldo. Soon after, he oversaw the transfer of Ronaldo to Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in a £12.24million deal in 2003. Anderson and Nani followed in Ronaldo's footsteps, moving from Lisbon to Manchester in deals which had a combined cost of £46million. Mendes even moved on to representing managers, as he completed Jose Mourinhos' move from Porto to Chelsea in 2004.
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After building an impressive roster of Portuguese players represented by Mendes, a pattern emerged where every Portuguese player to follow Mourinho to Chelsea was represented by Jorge Mendes: Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira for example.
In the 2014 Summer Transfer Window, Mendes pocketed a stunning £30million as he completed deals for James Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Chelsea), Angel Di Maria (Manchester United) and Ellequim Mangala (Manchester City). Nowadays, Jorge Mendes represents numerous international stars and is arguably the most successful and richest football agent in history.
See below a short documentary on the extravagant life of super agent Jorge Mendes.
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Mino Raiola
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Raiola is an Italian-born super agent representing several footballers with a predominant focus in the Premier League, whilst also representing several players in France. Mina Raiola has previously been in the news for holding secret talks with Manchester United's Jose Mourinho about the future of AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Clients:
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic
- Paul Pogba
- Henrikh Mkhitaryan
- Martin Jol (manager)
- Etienne Capoue
- Romelu Lukaku
- Maxwell
- Blaise Matuidi
- Gregory Van der Wiel
- Gianluigi Donnarumma
- Mario Balotelli
Raiola was originally a football player, followed by a short spell as a football administrator, until finally settling for a career as a football agent.
He got a job at Dutch agency company Sports Promotions. Due to his Dutch-Italian roots, Raiola was appointed to oversee the transfers of many high-profile Dutch players to Italian clubs. These involved names like Bryan Roy, Marciano Vink, Wim Jonk, and most significantly Dennis Bergkamp.
Following Raiola's success in the 1993 transfer of Dennis Bergkamp to Internazionale, he decided to depart from Sports Promotions and become self-employed. The Italian agent founded his own sports agency, which kicked off with the major international transfer of Paulo Nedved to Lazio following the 1996 Euros where Nedved impressed on the big stage.
In more recent days, Mino Raiola was involved in the transfer of Paul Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United for a world record-breaking £100million. This business deal resulted in Raiola pocketing £22million, the greatest sum of money a football agent has ever received for one transfer.
Following this mega-money deal, Raiola purchased Al Capone's old Miami villa for a whopping £10million.
Take a look at Mino Raiola's stunning mansion below.
These two multi-millionaires have conquered the profession of a football agent, and we can all dream of living the life that Jorge Mendes and Mino Raiola. Since April 2015, you do not even need to get a license to become an agent.
The hard part is obtaining a client, earning their trust, gaining contacts and surviving the first few years where success and money is scarce. The job also involves a lot of travelling, phone calls, and long hours.
Unfortunately for you and me, becoming a successful football agent is really about who you know rather than what you know.
Words by Matthew Jones - @MatthewJ_Joness
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