Lukaku parted from Mina Raiola to join Roc Nations Sports in April
Manchester United and Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku parted with long-time agent Mino Raiola earlier in the year, becoming the first Premier League player to join rapper Jay-Z’s sports agency Roc Nation Sports in the process.
He joined Jerome Boateng as just the second soccer player to sign for the agency, which also lists Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant and boxer Andre Ward among its clients.
At the time of his departure from the super agent Raiola, there was little to no suggestion as to why Lukaku made the decision that he did, but recent quotes from journalist Duncan Castles suggest that the Belgian’s decision may have been influenced by the manner in which he left Everton in the summer of 2017.
Speaking on his podcast The Transfer Window, the Scottish journalist claimed that Lukaku’s preference upon leaving Goodison Park was a return to Chelsea, a move which was widely expected to be completed at the time.
In the end he joined Manchester United to the collective shock of many people including, Castles suggests, Lukaku himself.
“From what I understand Lukaku basically got fed up with Raiola, the way he handled him. I’m told there was a misunderstanding of his move away from Everton, in that Lukaku thought that Raiola was conducting negotiations with Marina Granovskaia to do that deal, when in fact discussions were principally with Conte, who obviously wanted to bring Lukaku to the club,” said Castles.
On the other hand, Sport Witness has previously reported that Raiola still represents Lukaku in non-commercial dealings, so who really knows?
