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There was an attempt to portray Raiola as the villain in the goalkeeper transfer to Paris, but the 22-year-old is the one calling the shots.
Gianluigi Donnarumma will not be able to get the squad number he wants at Paris Saint-Germain. Mino Raiola, however, has already gotten the one that really matters.
Indeed, the news that Donnarumma will not be able to wear his favorite No.99 jersey at the Parc des Princes means nothing in the grand scheme of things.
What matters is that PSG have agreed to pay Donnarumma the 12million ($ 10.3 / $ 14.6million) annual salary that Raiola has been seeking from the start, making it a week for the player. 53 years old.
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Indeed, it all started with him revealing that his “lawyers have already taken action” against the creators of Report, the RAI 3 investigative program aired Monday night, which stars Raiola as the protagonist.
“It is shameful that state television, using public money, creates fake news,” Raiola told Corriere dello Sport.
“RAI must guarantee serious journalism. Instead, they sent a journalist to Malta who said a lot of wrong things and couldn’t find the right address for my office.
“This mistake is unforgivable because it casts a shadow on my reputation.”
Raiola, of course, has never before shown much interest in how he is viewed in the football industry. He seems to have no problem with his reputation; if anything, he reveled in it.
Dutch journalist Thijs Slegers once described Raiola as “a mobster” to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who noted in his autobiography: “The guy was not really a mobster. [Raiola] he just looked and acted like a … He was completely fearless and ready to pull any number of tricks. “
Which was exactly what the Ajax forward was looking for in an agent. “I didn’t want another nice guy,” Ibrahimovic wrote. “I wanted to be transferred and get a good contract.”
And Raiola has always been up to the task in that regard, which is why Ibrahimovic, who has traveled a lot, is just one of many top footballers on his client list.
Whatever one thinks of him, Raiola generally builds lasting bonds with his players. And his relationship with Donnarumma doesn’t look any different.
In Italy, there was a predictable attempt to portray Raiola as the villain in the goalkeeper’s decision to leave AC Milan and join PSG on a free transfer, the job of a stingy agent who misplaced a another young client.
After all, 22-year-old Donnarumma was a fan of the Rossoneri as a child and had been their first choice since the age of 16. Before the start of the season, coach Stefano Pioli even admitted that he could not “imagine Milan without Donnarumma”.
However, men at one club are now a thing of the past in football.
Milan technical director Paolo Maldini has spent his glorious playing career at San Siro, but confirming that Donnarumma will not extend his contract with the club, the defensive icon said: “He’s getting harder and harder to start a career in a place it and end it there.
“We have to thank those who gave so much for Milan and Gigio did it, never disrespecting the club. Our paths are divided here and I can only wish him the best.”
Many Milan fans were less magnanimous after admitting defeat in their efforts to persuade ‘Super Gigio’ to remain a Rossonero.
Ahead of the monumental top-four clash with Juventus at the end of the season, a group of ultras even showed up at Milanello and begged Donnarumma to stay at San Siro.
The Italy international reassured them that reports of a transfer to Juve were false, explaining that he had not yet made a decision on his future and insisting in tears that he wished to remain a Rossonero.
At the stadium, the hope was that if Milan got a Champions League return for the first time since 2014, Donnarumma would sign a renewal. But it was never a question of football, but of finance. Contract extensions are just a numbers game these days and if they don’t add up, a player joins another club.
In Donnarumma’s case, he was over 6m (5.1m / $ 7.3m) per season at San Siro. Raiola wanted double for his client, along with an advertised commission of $ 20 million ($ 17 million / $ 24 million).
Milan was never going to accept such numbers. Since taking over the club, after former owners Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux defaulted on the loan, Elliott Management has run the club with the greatest possible caution.
The fallen giants jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the proposed European Super League, as it would have instantly catapulted them to the top of the game. However, thanks to Maldini’s astute signings and Pioli’s clever coaching, Milan have anyway. slowly but surely climbed the top, as highlighted by the third place this season in Serie A.
Donnarumma of course played a central role. He was named the league’s best goalkeeper for the 2020-21 campaign, but there was always a chance it would be his last at Giuseppe Meazza. Truth be told, it’s probably a surprise that he stayed so long.
From the moment he made his Serie A debut, Donnarumma has been the subject of almost annual transfer talks and many Milan fans have long grown weary of Raiola’s antics.
During one of the many previous contract disputes, he held a bizarre press conference in his kitchen in Monte Carlo and accused Milan of intimidating his client, as well as creating a hostile atmosphere which led Donnarumma to receive death threats.
These allegations were never substantiated, but Donnarumma and his family have repeatedly suffered vitriolic abuse. He has been nicknamed ‘Dollarumma’, been thrown with counterfeit banknotes and even reduced to tears by a banner in San Siro.
However, throughout the controversy, Donnarumma’s relationship with Raiola has crucially never faltered.
Ahead of the clash between Italy and Germany in Poland, Rossoneri fans in attendance unfurled a banner that read: “If you have Milan in your heart, leave your agent.” And it was said at the time that Donnarumma was considering taking this advice.
However, he eventually responded to the rumors by tweeting: “#Donnarumma #Raiola Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow!” And that unbreakable bond is really the crux of the matter here.
The press played a role in spreading the idea that Raiola controls Donnarumma. A Gazzetta dello Sport editorial about his exit from Milan opened with the caustic line, “Ciao, Gigio, go where Mino takes you.”
But the point is that Raiola works for Donnarumma and not the other way around. Donnarumma is directing the fire here. If he wasn’t happy with the job Raiola was doing, he would fire him.
As Milan CEO Ivan Gazidis told Gazzetta: “I don’t know the limits of Gigio and Raiola’s relationship but ultimately, of course, the decision is still up to the player… He has did what he thought was best for him. “
And Milan did what was best for them, refusing to give in to Raiola’s exorbitant demands. They made Donnarumma a very fair offer of a 25 percent ($ 8 million per year) raise in wages and it was turned down. It really is that simple.
Oddly enough, Ibrahimovic expressed his disbelief at the departure of his former teammate, arguing: “He could have been Milan’s goalkeeper for 20 years. He could have become ‘Mr. Milan’, like Maldini. What value could one possibly have? give Maldini? It’s immeasurable.
He added in an interview with Gazzetta: “What is ‘winning too much’? Everything has its price. It depends on how much you need the player. The value is determined by the market.”
And Ibra is right, of course: the market is always decisive. But it has changed. Due to the economic crisis caused by Covid-19, many elite clubs are no longer able to pay paltry salaries, making Donnarumma’s exit inevitable, especially since Milan already had an excellent replacement, in Lille Mike Maignan.
Of course, there is no way to present the loss of a generational talent like Donnarumma in a favorable light. We’re talking about the heir to Gigi Buffon, the man who will debut in Italy’s goals in their Euro 2020 opener against Turkey on Friday.
But that was Donnarumma’s decision at the end of the day. Much like it was Donnarumma’s decision to hire and stay with Raiola through relentless criticism.
He always acted professionally and had every right to leave Milan for nothing. But he might never shake the nickname “Dollarumma” in Italy.
Maybe he doesn’t care. Just like Ibra all those years ago, Donnarumma was transferred and got a good contract. And he has Raiola to thank for that.
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