Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football has given the world a steady feed of some of the most ridiculous financial stories from the modern version of the beautiful game.
It took 60 reporters, researchers, and lawyers seven months so that we can now indulge in the knowledge that Joe Hart’s dadruff-avoiding antics have contributed to a €2.7m investment fund.
We also know that Wayne Rooney’s image rights have banked him a cool €56m pension pot and that Cristiano Ronaldo collected €1m for 4hrs work with a Saudi telecom company.
The book also claims Zlatan Ibrahimovic will receive a goal bonus of €168,000 if he scores between 16-20 goals this season (he currently stands on 17), but the real star of the whole show has been his agent Mino Raiola.
Raiola is the epitome of what modern football now knows as the ‘super agent’ and was instrumental in Paul Pogba’s €100m return to Manchester United which is now the subject of a FIFA query. Regardless of ethics and queries Raiola's clientele would make a decent XI to be fair.
Mino #Raiola, menedżer Paula Pogby, zgarnął 49 mln 💶 z samej prowizji za transfer do United 💰
Jedenastka jego "stajni" jest niczego sobie!⚽️ pic.twitter.com/mVqQn32XNy— Totolotek 🌞 (@TotolotekPL) May 12, 2017
The book has revealed that Raiola pocketed over €46m (€27m from Juventus and €19 from United) from the lucrative deal and what’s even more interesting from the revelation is that Pogba’s image rights were registered with a company in Clonakilty towards the end of his last season with Juve.
The legal company, which goes by the name of ‘Blue Brands’ is registered in the name of Vincenzo Raiola, a suspected relative of Milo, and the rights were held in Cork before being moved on to tax-haven Jersey.
Strange on the face of it, but on closer inspection Cork is probably the ideal place for him. It hasn't been the best of seasons for the Frenchman but he can take solace knowing that if he ever did move to Cork he wouldn't be the only underachieving sportsman that wears red...
