Mino Raiola lays into Sir Alex Ferguson, saying he forced out Pogba

‘The Glazers told me I was right… Ferguson didn’t believe in Paul Pogba’: Mino Raiola lays into Sir Alex, saying he forced out a £89m star, liked ‘yes’ men at Man United and likening him to Sepp Blatter

  • Super-agent Mino Raiola has reignited his bitter feud with Sir Alex Ferguson
  • The pair fell out in 2012 when his client Paul Pogba left Man United on a free
  • Raiola now claims the Glazers proved him right by buying Pogba back in 2016
  • He also claimed Ferguson liked ‘yes’ men and compared him to Sepp Blatter 

Mino Raiola has reignited his bitter feud with Sir Alex Ferguson, insisting the fact Manchester United bought Paul Pogba back to the club shows he was right to think the Scot did not rate him. 

Ferguson and Raiola fell out way back in 2012 when the super-agent convinced client Pogba to leave United after he was struggling to get first-team football at Old Trafford.

When Raiola started to represent Pogba he demanded an improved contract for his client but United refused and that led to the Frenchman joining Juventus on a free transfer.


Mino Raiola has hit out at Sir Alex Ferguson again and says the Glazers proved him right that he did not rate Paul Pogba by bringing him back to the club

Pogba left on a free transfer to Juventus in 2012 after struggling to get first-team football

Ferguson has since aired his distaste for Raiola in public, writing in his high-profile book “Leading”: ‘There are one or two football agents I simply do not like, and Mino Raiola is one of them.

‘I distrusted him from the moment I met him.

‘We had Paul under a three-year contract, and it had a one-year renewal option which we were eager to sign.

‘But Raiola suddenly appeared on the scene and our first meeting was a fiasco. He and I were like oil and water.’ 

And now Raiola has sensationally hit out at the 79-year-old, describing him as liking ‘yes’ men, comparing him to disgraced ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter and claiming the Glazers proved him right about Pogba.

Ferguson, pictured with Joel and Avram Glazer in 2011, has an ongoing feud with the agent

Ferguson (front, centre) pictured with the Manchester United reserve team, including Pogba (back, third from right) in 2010

In an interview with The Athletic, Raiola said: ‘When Ferguson criticised me, that was my biggest compliment anybody could give me.

‘Ferguson is used to people coming in and, “Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir”.

‘All I have to say that when Ferguson left Manchester United the club’s owner [the Glazers], by buying back Paul Pogba, told me that I was right.

‘Because I didn’t want to take Paul Pogba away. He [Ferguson] didn’t believe in Paul Pogba.

‘So when Ferguson says, “I don’t like him”, it’s the biggest compliment that I could have. It’s like saying Sepp Blatter says, “I don’t like him”. Fantastic. I don’t care what Ferguson says.’

Raiola’s relationship with the Red Devils soured again just before Christmas when he declared Pogba, who rejoined United in an £89million deal in 2016, will leave the club at the end of his contract. 

He urged United to sell their record signing this summer or risk losing him on a free when his contract expires in June 2022 because he won’t sign a new one. 

Raiola hit out at Ferguson and compared him to disgraced ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter

Raiola’s relationship with United soured again before Christmas when he said Pogba wants out

He told Tuttosport: ‘I can say that it’s over for Paul Pogba at Manchester United.’

‘Paul is unhappy. He is no longer able to express himself as he would like and as expected of him. He has to change teams; he has to change the air.

‘He has a contract that will expire in a year and a half, but I think the best solution for the parties is to sell him in the next market.’

United will have to soften their reluctance to work with Raiola this summer if they are to have any chance of signing Erling Haaland, another of his many high-profile clients, from Borussia Dortmund.

The race to secure Haaland’s signature is set to dominate the summer transfer window with Real Madrid, Chelsea and both Manchester clubs expected to compete fiercely to recruit him. 

Reports earlier this week said Dortmund had set a price tag of £154million for clubs to pay if they want Haaland this summer as they look to ward off attempts to sign their star striker. 




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