Mino Raiola’s first job was in his father’s pizza restaurant in the Dutch city of Haarlem. They had emigrated from southern Italy to the Netherlands when he was 11, and for years he slaved away, washing the floor and waiting tables. As he got older, his father realized he had an aptitude for business and his son was put in charge of the books and negotiating contracts to import the best mozzarella and tomatoes. The offices of the Dutch football federation were nearby and an Italian agent used to pop in.
That was first contact Raiola, who died on Saturday at the age of 54, had with football, a world he would transform.