![]() "Maybe Mino's life would have been easier with a different approach. She won't go into details about the split with Vincenzo, though you can sense the acrimony: "There was a little - no, a lot - that Mino was putting up with and that I was not willing to put up with," she says. That suggests that, as critical as Mino was to the operation, Pimenta had built up enormous trust with her clients as well. When Raiola's cousin Vincenzo, who worked for years with Mino and Pimenta, left the agency and took some clients with him, many of the top names - like Haaland, Pogba and Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt - stuck around. But some things are easier to talk about with a woman." Still, in a business built on trust and personal relationships - Raiola famously claimed that none of his clients were contractually bound to him and could leave at any time - many on the outside believed that he alone was the glue that held it all together, and that Pimenta was, at best, a sidekick. Of course, some things are easier to talk about with a man. "I think you can have an understanding of what's going on by simply talking to them because you've seen it so many times, in so many colors, with different people. ![]() "That's stereotyping in my opinion," Pimenta says. "Big sister" doesn't quite work as well for multimillionaire 20-somethings who are often believed to be driven by the usual things coveted at that age: sex, fancy cars, night clubs and bling. Raiola had, by far, the higher profile between him and Pimenta and cultivated the image of a "big brother" to many of his clients, who were fiercely loyal to him. Somehow, that recipe appealed to footballers of all backgrounds and nationalities. Raiola's "secret sauce" was long thought to be a combination of confidence, doggedness and aggression, all packaged in a self-made man with the right dose of "street" - where most agents wore designer suits, his "uniform" was usually sneakers, jeans and a T-shirt. By his mid-20s, he had parlayed those acquaintances into a career as an agent, most notably helping to broker Dutch star Dennis Bergkamp's move from Ajax to Inter in 1993. Born near Naples and raised in the Netherlands from an early age, Raiola worked in his family's restaurant, which was frequented by club executives, players and agents. IN THE WAKE OF RAIOLA'S PASSING LAST YEAR, many around the game thought their clients would gravitate elsewhere. With former director of football Marina Granovskaia leaving Chelsea after the club was sold in June 2022 and Fatma Samoura on her way out as FIFA secretary general, you can make a case that Pimenta is one of, if not the most influential woman in the game today. When she's done giggling, however, the trace of bitterness in her eyes is evident. Keep talking and it will continue to get worse for you,'" Pimenta said, recalling the episode with a laugh. It's just that now my commission for this deal has doubled. "I said, 'Don't worry guys, that's not a problem. He said he didn't know what the man was talking about. Pimenta's lawyer, who was merely along to offer advice, was visibly embarrassed, since he wasn't the one doing the negotiating. That's when the club executive turned to Pimenta's lawyer and said, "Oh, you prepared her well." After a long and heated negotiation, they finally came to an agreement. She was accompanied by a lawyer who, she says, knew nothing about football, but was well-versed in the laws of the country where the club operated. She was dealing with a club executive who had been in the game for a long time, but whom she had never met. In this case, a man who had "coached her up." And if she's in the room and working and important, it must be because of a man. Even after having sat across the table and negotiated deals with the biggest clubs - from Real Madrid to Manchester United, from Bayern Munich to Paris Saint-Germain, from Manchester City to Arsenal - and sponsors in the world. Even after representing the likes of Pavel Nedved, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marco Verratti, Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and others - a multinational galaxy of stars, from Ballon d'Or winners (Nedved) to self-anointed deities (Ibrahimovic). Even after working side-by-side with the late Mino Raiola, one of the most famous and influential agents out there. Even after a quarter-century in the gritty, muddy trench warfare that is football's transfer system. MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Even today, it still comes up. Superagent Pimenta talks discrimination, transfers, Haaland Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FC You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
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