Who is Rafaela Pimenta? Mino Raiola’s successor and agent of Haaland and Pogba

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 29 Nov 2022 08:26 GMT
• 3 min read

Rafaela Pimenta has emerged as one of football’s super agents following the death of Mino Raiola in April 2022.

She has inherited the agency run by the charismatic Italian, who passed away because of illness aged 54.

Raiola was regarded as one of the game’s most powerful agents and has passed that baton on to Pimenta, who now represents some of the game’s biggest stars, including Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.

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Who is Rafaela Pimenta

Pimenta was once described as “the most important person in football that nobody knows” by an unnamed Premier League director but has stepped out of the shadows with a profile that is only set to grow.

Born in Brazil, she had worked with Raiola for 18 years before assuming control of his agency, One.

Pimenta was initially introduced to Raiola when working at a charity football match for the Brazilian government, and from there they struck up a strong working relationship.

Although she has not been in the spotlight, her presence in some of the biggest deals in footballing history has been felt, with Pimenta helping secure Erling Haaland’s big-money transfer to Manchester City in the summer of 2022.

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Who are Rafaela Pimenta’s clients?

Pimenta’s list of footballers is a formidable one, including some of the finest players in the game today.

Erling Haaland is perhaps her biggest star, with the Manchester City striker having excelled since moving to the Premier League from Dortmund.

Equally, Paul Pogba commands a huge profile, with the World Cup winner having once been the most expensive player in the world. Zlatan Ibrahimovic of AC Milan is also on her books.

Other stars on Pimenta’s books include the Dutchmen Matthijs de Ligt, Xavi Simons, Denzel Dumfries and Ryan Gravenberch, as well as Italians Marco Verratti, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Moise Kean.

Successor to Mino Raiola

Pimenta has shown a willingness to fight for her clients like Raiola once did, noting after the untimely passing of her predecessor the manner in which she had to fight off “lowlifes” vying for their signatures.

“There are also a bunch of lowlifes who called the players,” she told The Telegraph.

“One called Walter Benitez the day that Mino died. And Wanda, his wife, picked up and she gave him such a tongue-lashing and said, ‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’

“Before Mino died, they called Alphonse Areola. Thousands of people called Xavi Simons, thousands of people called Erling Haaland, thousands of people called Paul Pogba.

“They called me also and said: ‘If you need help I can run the business for you.’”

What is Rafaela Pimenta’s net worth?

Rafaela Pimenta’s net worth isn’t publicly known, but given the value of transfers that she has been involved in negotiating, it will be significant – and is only expected to grow in the years ahead.