How a leading football agency identifies the next generation of star players

Mino Raiola was one of football’s original “superagents”.

Yet, following his death at age 54 in April 2022, his agency — one he had effectively run as a one-man band — underwent a major overhaul.

Some of Raiola’s clients, such as Erling Haaland, went with his ex-business partner Rafaela Pimenta, a Brazilian former lawyer, while others chose his cousin Vincenzo (Enzo) Raiola and Jose Fortes Rodriguez, who was Mino’s right-hand man in the Netherlands, as part of a new organisation called Team Raiola.

Team Raiola is supported by Raiola Global Management, a company founded in 2023 by Mino’s son Mario that specialises in areas such as data and analytics. Together they are attempting to transform the way they identify and recruit Europe’s best talents.

The Athletic was given behind-the-scenes access to learn how they go about trying to uncover the continent’s brightest prospects.

Mino Raiola, a pugnacious character who started out scrubbing floors and waiting tables at his father’s pizzeria in the Netherlands before rising to become one of football’s kingmakers, was a divisive figure and one of the sport’s highest-profile agents.

He was adored by some of the game’s biggest stars, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Haaland, but had a series of public spats with managers including Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson — who once called him a “s***bag”.

Raiola, whose first deal involved moving Bryan Roy from Amsterdam’s Ajax to Italian club Foggia in 1992, shrugged off criticism from those who said he was a symbol of football’s greed, bloat and excess, insisting his loyalty remained with his clients.

“My father said to me when I was a small boy that 50 per cent of the people in your life will love you and 50 per cent will hate you,” he told The Athletic in a 2021 interview. “So I am not here to be loved and liked by everybody. I am here to be loved by my family and by my players. And the rest, I don’t give a s***.”

He added: “There must be a reason people still buy Rolls-Royces and Bentleys and Ferraris and Porsches. It must be quality. If players trust my agency and trust what I do, it’s something good that I’m doing, because it cannot be my looks.”

Such was Raiola’s overarching influence and power, his death three years ago necessitated a restructuring of the operation.

The list of players represented by Team Raiola includes Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch and Justin Kluivert of Bournemouth — two of this season’s standout performers in the Premier League — as well as Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven, former Italy international Mario Balotelli, now at Genoa, and Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The agency has set itself the target of having the top 11 players in each three-year junior age group across its key markets. These include Italy, Scandinavia and the Netherlands, as well as France, Spain, Germany and the UK, which it is now starting to target more actively.

Enzo Raiola (who focuses mainly on Italy) and Rodriguez (Netherlands) head up Team Raiola, while Nima Modyr is the first agent recruited for the international expansion plan and is in charge of the Scandinavian market. Raiola Global Management’s role is to maximise the use of data and analytics to help complement and inform scouts on the ground.

“Data will never replace the instinct and expertise of a scout or sporting director watching a player in person,” Mark Nervegna, the company’s UK chief executive, tells The Athletic. “However, it provides valuable insights that complement their assessments. When used and balanced correctly, data enhances decision-making and can give a competitive edge.”

So, with that being the case, how exactly do they set about finding the most exciting talents in the game?

“Before, there was an old-school method of storing information,” Nervegna explains. “Scouts would often file reports informally — sometimes over WhatsApp or with a classic pen and paper — which meant valuable insights could get lost or overlooked. So we wanted to instil more guidelines, structure and discipline.”

This shift led to a big change in how information was collected, with everything now uploaded to the same database, including scouting reports, player assessments and performance data. It means there’s now collaboration between what the scouts see on the ground, with the findings from a team of analysts who are tracking more than 50,000 players from around 100 competitions every season using tools such as StatsBomb, SkillCorner and Wyscout.

“It’s not just about collecting information, but using it strategically,” Nervegna adds. “Whether that’s tracking emerging talents, assessing potential signings or building long-term career strategies.”

Following that, and after further research and video analysis, scouts are sent a ‘priority list’ of around 20 to 30 players to track every six months, along with any additional ones they have identified while at games.

From there, the agency aims to recruit players based on the positions, age groups and nationalities that are underrepresented in their roster, focusing on both young talents and established professionals. This is an ongoing process, with the ultimate aim of maintaining a balanced and competitive client roster without many overlaps in positions per age and nationality.

When it comes to identifying the best young talent, players are ranked by country and age category into a top 30, graded by their potential rating and their current one. They are particularly excited by the likes of Matteo Cocchi, Seydou Fini, Jasper Hartog, Tochi Chukwuani, Mohamed Nassoh and Filippo Scotti, who are on their books.

In France, a country with no shortage of young talent, the AI scouting platform Eyeball is used to complement the process. Eyeball began by working with 50 amateur clubs in France (it has since branched out to other countries) to provide comprehensive video analysis of youth football and find the best prospects as they come through.

“When we choose to represent a footballer, we are choosing to accompany them on a life journey, not just a career path,” Enzo Raiola says. “We get to know their families and try to understand the person before the player. Every talent needs the right environment to grow, and we make sure they have all the necessary support, both on and off the pitch.

“We have been fortunate to follow many top-level players, which has allowed us to build extensive experience with different profiles and career paths.”

Every potential signing undergoes due diligence, with agents, scouts and analysts conducting deep analysis — studying their potential, assessing their skill set through advanced analytics, reviewing hours of footage and attending live games.

“Discovering a talent is one of the most rewarding aspects of this job,” Enzo adds. “You see a young player with something special and imagine where they could go, but talent alone is not enough — it takes the right mindset, sacrifice and the right path.

“We have seen players start from nothing and reach the top, and knowing we contributed to their growth is the greatest satisfaction. For us, anticipating the future is essential — understanding who has the potential to become a great player and providing them with the tools to succeed.”

Rodriguez, who represents Dutch players such as Van de Ven, Gravenberch and Kluivert, agrees.

Jose Fortes Rodriguez with Ryan Gravenberch (Team Raiola)

“Identifying young talent is not just about spotting raw ability,” he says. “It’s about recognising potential before the world sees it. The beauty of discovering a player early lies in the ability to nurture them, not just in terms of skill, but also in mentality, discipline and character.

“A great agent understands that success isn’t defined by a player’s first contract but by the foundation they build. It’s about guiding them through the highs and lows, pushing them to stay focused and constantly reminding them that talent alone isn’t enough — hard work, resilience and the right mindset are what separate the truly great from the good.

“As a former player, I’ve been there and I know what the player is going through, and my job is to support them on their journey, not only to get the right deal. I work very closely with our scouts and data team to identify the right talent that fits the criteria and then look to create the best strategy for the player — we want every player to be successful on and off the pitch, and when that happens it is very satisfying indeed.”

Of course, recruitment is just the start and talent spotting is only part of an agency’s broad remit.

“In recent years, we have grown, modernised, and adapted to the changes in football,” Enzo says. “But the values and principles that Mino established are the same ones that remain at the heart of our company today: to do the best for our players, treat them like family, and build solid careers for them.”

(Top photo: Jose Fortes Rodriguez with Justin Kluivert; Team Raiola)