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Mino Raiola has dismissed suggestions that he unsettled Manchester United with his controversial comments about Paul Pogba’s future in December.
Raiola risked the wrath of United hierarchy last year after claiming his client was ‘unhappy’ at Old Trafford and would actively look for a new challenge in the summer.
Pogba has been in inspired form for the Red Devils ever since, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealing that the club would be open to discussing a new contract with the Frenchman.
In an interview BBC Sport Raiola addressed the remarks and refuted any suggestion he attempted to offend anyone at United by merely ‘expressing an opinion’.
“I just expressed an opinion, I didn’t want to cause any problem,” Raiola said.
“I don’t think that it destabilised anybody, because they had a fantastic run and they were even first, for a period, in the league.
“You think big players like Paul Pogba – or [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer, who won everything in his life – get destabilised by what Mino Raiola says? Come on, please. But I don’t talk about it any more. It makes life a little bit boring, but it is what it is.”
The outspoken Raiola – whose high-profile rooster includes the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Matthijs de Ligt and Marco Verratti – added: “Whenever I tell my opinion, everyone in England goes berserk.
“Suddenly I am the worst agent, or the best agent…and the clubs get so stressed from the public and journalists that I have learned not to talk much about it.”
Meanwhile, Raiola believes Borussia Dortmund’s teenage sensation Erling Haaland is primed to become ‘one of the future stars of the next decade’ with speculation growing over his future.
Haaland, who is among 70 players on Raiola’s books, only joined Dortmund a year ago but has already been linked with a big-money move away from the club.
And Raiola has hinted that the Premier League could be Haaland’s next destination, as four of the 10 clubs who could afford the Norwegian forward compete in the English top flight.
“It is obvious that everybody is looking at Erling as one of those potential new future stars because it’s so difficult to do what he does at his age at his level,” the 53-year-old.
“He will be one of the future stars of the next decade because we see that stars such as Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo and Messi are coming to an age where everyone asks themselves: ‘How long can we still enjoy them?’ So everyone is looking for the new generation.
“Only a maximum of 10 clubs can afford to buy [Haaland] and give the platform you would like after you’ve been in Dortmund… and four of those clubs are in [England].
“I don’t think there’s a sports director or trainer in the world who would say ‘not interested’. It’s like saying: ‘Is there a Formula 1 team who would not be interested in having Lewis Hamilton?’”
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