The timeline of Mino Raiola’s feuds with Manchester United

Mino Raiola is in the headlines once again, this time for suggesting in an interview with Sport1 that his top client Erling Haaland would only go to one of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester City, before releasing a statement on Saturday to clarify that this isn’t really what he meant. In his original interview, the agent angered Manchester United fans by stating that “City have won the Premier League five times in recent years, significantly more than United” and arguing that this would be a reason to avoid Old Trafford.

Logically, this comment didn’t go down well in the red half of Manchester. Not for the first time, Gary Neville took to Twitter to criticise Raiola. “I know we’ve been crap recently, but Mina [sic] Raiola has wiped out all United’s Premier League titles in one foul [sic] swoop,” the Sky Sports pundit wrote.

For Neville and other Manchester United fans, it’s nothing new to be angry at Raiola. The agent has historically had a turbulent relationship with the Red Devils and we look back on it here with this Raiola vs Manchester United timeline.

Raiola and United Act One: Taking Pogba away

In 2012, when there were talks for a new contract for the then-19-year-old Pogba, things got heated between Raiola and Alex Ferguson. The former manager called the agent a “t**t”, while the Dutch-Italian said not even his chihuahuas would sign the terms being offered. Pogba departed for Juventus and Ferguson was left fuming.

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Raiola and United Act Two: Ferguson’s distrust

In 2015, Ferguson hit out at Raiola in one of his books. "There are one or two football agents I simply do not like and Mino Raiola, Paul Pogba's agent, is one of them,” the Scot said in his memoirs. "I distrusted him from the moment I met him."

Raiola and United Act Three: Reconciliation

In 2016, there was an apparent reconciliation as three high-profile Raiola clients moved to Old Trafford that summer, in Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and, most famously, Paul Pogba. One year later, Romelu Lukaku followed those three to the club.

Raiola and United Act Four: Feuds with the new managers

Raiola has had a testy relationship with the previous two managers of Manchester United. With Jose Mourinho, there was a tense relationship at the time when the Portuguese said in September 2018 that Pogba wouldn’t captain the team again. Then, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over, the agent wasn’t happy with his client’s role in the team and even hit out at the Norwegian for saying that the Frenchman “is our player and not Mino's”.

Raiola and United Act Five: The plot to sign Haaland without Raiola

In the winter window of the 2019/20 season, Haaland switched from RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund, but Manchester United were keen then too as he was proving his worth and given that Solskjaer knew the player from his time at Molde. There were reports at the time that United spoke to the player’s father Alf-Inge Haaland in an attempt to bypass Raiola, which didn’t go down well.

Raiola and United Act Six: Not giving a f**k

In March of 2021, Raiola hit out at Manchester United again and, with Pogba’s contract winding down, he suggested he might stop taking his clients to Old Trafford. “I don’t give a f**k if I never do another player with Manchester United,” he said. “I’m not in their hands. I’m independent. We have only one party that we take care of: our players. And as long as our players like us, you do what you have to do.” This followed on from earlier comments where the agent claimed United were so dysfunctional that they would “even have ruined the careers of Maradona, Pelé and Maldini”.

Raiola and United Act Seven: War of words with the pundits

With Raiola becoming increasingly unpopular at Manchester United, some of the ex-players-turned-pundits took turns to criticise the agent for his way of working. But, Raiola, always aware of the latest talk in the media, responded by claiming he was providing them with enough talking points to stay in jobs. “If some former Manchester United players don’t speak about me and Paul, they won’t work anymore,” he claimed.

Raiola and United Act Eight: The Haaland comments

Although he had threatened to stop bringing clients to Old Trafford, Manchester United remain one of the biggest and most attractive clubs in the world and Haaland is one of the most sought-after rising talents. Raiola had always appeared to keep the Old Trafford door open for the striker, but this week his Sport1 interview comments about Manchester City winning “significantly more than United” created a fresh conflict. His later clarification can’t take away that comment, one that infuriated United fans. Haaland may yet sign for the Red Devils, but that doesn’t mean his agent will ever become a popular figure at the club.