Zlatan Ibrahimovic has risen from the likes of Malmo to Manchester United in his career. The Swedish striker will arguably go down in history as one of the best #9 of his time. However, while the former United star was the man on the field, there was one close friend behind him who always had his back throughout his career. In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Zlatan touched down on the loss of his close friend, and how his tragic death changed his mindset.

Zlatan’s friend was one of the best agents across the market, helping his players get some of the best deals and clauses in their contracts. The Italian brokered some of the biggest deals in soccer, including the likes of Paul Pogba to Manchester United and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic opens up on the loss of Mino Raiola

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the latest guest on Piers Morgan’s Uncensored. The former AC Milan star during the interview talked about various topics from his career on and off the field. During one part of the interview, the Swede got a tad emotional as he talked about the loss of his close friend and agent Mino Raiola who passed away last year in April.

“It was a big loss; it is still a big loss. And I still miss him today. And I will miss him forever. Because he was not only agent for me. He was everything. My career started when I moved to Ajax. But my real career started with when the first day I met him, and, and we did everything together, the football, outside football. I shared every moment with him, happy moments, bad moments.”

Both Raiola and Zlatan shared a close bond with each other. The Swede, while talking about his former agent, added that Raiola helped him become the man he is today.

“Even in my private life, I would present him a girl and I would say, what do you think is for me or not? He will say yes or no. So he was involved in everything I did. When that tragic moment happened to me last year. It was not the same thing, football became different for me. Everything we did was sharing moments. He saw me grow from a baby to a man. I became who I am because of him.”

Mino Raiola’s loss for a tragic loss for the soccer community. The 54-year-old had a big impact on players he handled throughout his life. The Italian was responsible for some sensational transfers that saw clubs splurge big money on his players.

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Mino Raiola was responsible for some of the biggest transfers in soccer

Italian agent Mino Raiola will go down in history as one of the best player agents of the game. While multiple agents hoped to secure a big money deal for their clients, Raiola always looked underneath the underneath to find the best deals for his players. The Italian throughout his life managed some of the best players from past and present.

Raiola, who started off his agent career in the Netherlands, brokered some of the biggest transfers in the early 90s as helped Dennis Bergkamp move from Ajax to AC Milan. The Italian then encountered Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped him move from Ajax to Juventus, Juventus to AC Milan, and AC Milan to Barcelona, all in the quick span of 5 years.

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Before his death in 2022, Raiola was responsible for finding one of the biggest stars in Erling Haaland and helping him move to Borussia Dortmund while having a perfect release clause in place to help players move to bigger places. Raiola’s loss was mourned by soccer stars around the world, with the Italian playing a big role in their respective careers.