Sir Alex Ferguson has made his dislike for Italian football agent Mino Raiola clear and the agent has now hit back at the former Manchester United manager, claiming: “I don’t care what Ferguson says”.
Raiola has hit out at Sir Alex Ferguson over an episode which dates back to Paul Pogba’s 2012 departure to join Juventus on a Bosman.
In his 2015 book, ‘Leading’, Ferguson wrote: “There are one or two football agents I simply do not like, and Mino Raiola is one of them. I distrusted him from the moment I met him.
“He became Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s agent while he was playing for Ajax, and eventually he would end up representing Pogba, who was only 18 years old at the time.
“We had Paul under a three-year contract, and it had a one-year renewal option which we were eager to sign. But Raiola suddenly appeared on the scene and our first meeting was a fiasco.
“He and I were like oil and water. From then on, our goose was cooked because Raiola had been able to ingratiate himself with Paul and his family and the player signed for Juventus.”
However, Raiola has not hit back at the legendary manager, insisting that United’s owners “told me that I was right” when Pogba returned to Old Trafford in 2016.
Speaking to the Athletic, Raiola spoke highly of the parasites but not Ferguson, saying: “When Ferguson criticised me, that was my biggest compliment anybody could give me. Ferguson is used to people coming in and, ‘Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.’
“All I have to say that when Ferguson left Manchester United the club’s owners (the Glazers), by buying back Paul Pogba, told me that I was right. Because I didn’t want to take Paul Pogba away. He (Ferguson) didn’t believe in Paul Pogba.
“So when Ferguson says, ‘I don’t like him’, it’s the biggest compliment that I could have. It’s like saying Sepp Blatter says, ‘I don’t like him’. Fantastic. I don’t care what Ferguson says.”
It’s not a surprise that Raiola cares more about the Glazers than he does Ferguson because he has got millions out of United in recent years. That wouldn’t have been the case if the Scot was still in the Old Trafford dugout.
Pogba’s return has hardly been a glittering success so I wonder if the Glazers still think Raiola was right?
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