When you dance with the devil…
It has been quite a summer at Old Trafford. A new chapter in the history of Manchester United got under way when Jose Mourinho took charge of the club following Louis van Gaal’s departure. He brought with him an impeccable CV, a whole load of baggage, and of course Jorge Mendes.
Many assumed that the Portuguese super-agent’s fingerprints would be all over the club’s summer transfer activities, but it’s another notorious schemer who has been the surprise mastermind behind United’s star acquisitions thus far – Mino Raiola.
Both Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are represented by the colourful Italian-born Dutch agent, and he has used all of his not inconsiderable influence and insider leverage to make those deals happen, particularly in the case of Mkhitaryan.
He also happens to represent Paul Pogba, a player whom Jose Mourinho covets above all others. For weeks now, Raiola has been making all the right noises about his star client ending up at Old Trafford, and so has become something of a hero for some United fans.
There has been no shortage of praise for the agent’s efforts, and a number of supporters have gone a little OTT with their eulogies…
https://twitter.com/Faisal_RedDevil/status/751540290914254848
https://twitter.com/MuellerHolic/status/748540102712918020
— Kunal Srivastava (@Kunal_sri92) July 5, 2016
FOKIN LOVE MINO RAIOLA
— 아가🇵🇸🔻 (@v1ncnz) June 30, 2016
Mino Raiola is the man!!!!!! #mufc
— Miss P (@missp000) July 2, 2016
But a few days is a long time in football, and a deal for Pogba that looked to be a formality just a week ago is now seeming far less certain. Following the end of Euro 2016, Raiola’s tune has changed markedly. He gone from making flirty eyes at United to stating the following:
“He is in no rush to leave, and Juventus do not want him to go. They want him to renew his contract.
“Paul is not desperate to move. We are very happy at Juventus and they are a club that want to keep their star players.”
Although some still feel that this is all part of the dance, and that Pogba will eventually end up at Old Trafford, many United supporters have quickly fallen out of love with the machiavellian Mino. This lot have certainly had enough of his dark arts of spin and subterfuge…
https://twitter.com/MufcJ/status/752822033919139840
I barely cared about Pogba coming to United when ITKs said it was a done deal.Now that Raiola is playing his games I'm so over it!#DontCome
— Jite (@GoJay1Go) July 12, 2016
Raiola ffs..fat fuck
— Pranav  (@prrannavvv) July 11, 2016
Mino raiola just give us pogba and then fuck off. We like dealing with Mendes not you.
— Kess (@LenGe_MAN) July 4, 2016
We're not even halfway through the transfer season and I'm already sick of this fat fuck #Raiola and his mind games!
— Anmol Ramchandani (@AnmolR_) July 12, 2016
https://twitter.com/KenneallyRobbie/status/745213813784457216
https://twitter.com/FutboIChris/status/752842665931186176
https://twitter.com/D9Jordan/status/746600622644924416
