Grieving Haaland, Ibrahimovic and Fabregas among stars at Mino Raiola’s funeral after football agent’s death at 54

A HOST of star-studded names were in attendance to pay their respects at the funeral of super agent Mino Raiola in Monte Carlo.

Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, who is set to join Manchester City this summer, joined the likes of AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma at yesterday’s service for the man who represented them.

Raiola, who had lived in the Principality for a number of years, died on Saturday following a battle with illness aged 54.

He initially spent time in hospital at the beginning of the year and underwent very delicate surgery in January.

Last week, Italian media had wrongly claimed the football broker had passed away, which was then reported by the world’s press.

Real Madrid even paid their condolences after the fake reports emerged, which Raiola was forced to deny it from his hospital bed.

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He tweeted: “Current health status for the ones wondering: p***d off second time in 4 months they kill me. Seem also able to resuscitate.”

However, his family confirmed the sad news of his death just two days later.

Raiola had been suffering with a lung condition, according to German outlet Bild, before his passing.

His passing shocked the football world, and many of the players that he represented throughout his career travelled to Monaco to honour him at a private ceremony held for family and close friends at the Saint-Charles church.

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Ex-PSG, Manchester United and Sweden striker Ibrahimovic, 40, was one of Raiola’s longest and closest clients.

He was reportedly present at the Italian’s bedside when he passed away and was there again yesterday to say his final goodbye.

Haaland and Donnarumma were too, while the likes of former Chelsea and Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas was also spotted.

And PSG midfielder Marco Verratti and Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt were two of the other names to attend.

The agent, who represents Paul Pogba, was involved in some of the most historic transfers in history, known for his shrewd bargaining skills with the world’s biggest teams.

Forbes estimate his personal fortune to be around £68million.

He was the man who helped agree the £89m deal to take Pogba back to United from Juventus in 2016 for what was then a world record fee.

SunSport previously revealed how Raiola’s journey to the top of football started by making pizzas.

Born in Nocera Inferiore in Salerno, south-east of Naples, the Raiola family moved to the Dutch city of Haarlem when Mino was just one.

There, they opened a pizzeria called Napoli in Haarlem’s Grote Markt and, not for the first time, Mino was the star with his sales patter, charm and customer service making him more than just a waiter.

Those interpersonal skills were soon transferred as he negotiated with some of the sport’s biggest characters.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk