Five most powerful football agents who make up to £78m-a-year commission from stars like Pogba and Ronaldo
Jorge Mendes has Cristiano Ronaldo, Mino Raoila has Pogba, while Jonathan Barnett has Bale... but which agent tops SunSport's list of super agents?
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BEHIND every great player is a super agent.
He's a man responsible for getting the best deal for his clients - whether it's a bumper new contract or a top transfer, the agent will negotiate on the players' behalf to secure a respectable payday.
And sometimes, rather than remain behind the scenes, they put themselves at the centre of the story.
Just remember back to when Italian-born Dutch agent Mino Raoila bit back on social media at Man United legend-turned pundit Paul Scholes following an attack on his client Paul Pogba.
These fellas love making the news themselves.
But who is the most powerful? Here's the top five.
5. Pini Zahavi
The Israeli businessman has come a long way since bringing his first high-profile client, Avi Cohen to Liverpool in 1979.
Now 75, Zahavi is probably best known for helping bring Roman Abramovich to Chelsea, as well as the influx of players that soon followed.
In fact, that summer in 2003 it was reported he earned £5m from the £111m the West London giants spent on new talent.
Zahavi also handled the transfer that took Rio Ferdinand from West Ham to Leeds for £18m, then from Leeds to Manchester United for £30m, which he was said to have taken a £1.13m chunk of.
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However, his tenure in football hasn't been without controversy.
In 2005, the FA recommended that Zahavi be investigated for his part in the tapping up of Ashley Cole.
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But he evaded any charges, with the FA and Premier League revealing they didn't have any jurisdiction over Zahavi.
Most recently, Zahavi was involved in Neymar's PSG transfer from Barcelona and Robert Lewandowski enlisted his services last year.
4. Kia Joorabchian
The 47-year-old Iranian is actually not a licensed agent but he describes his business as advising players on their rights and clubs on transfers and contracts.
He's also a third-party owner of players, calling himself an investment manager for the world's up-and-coming talents.
Joorabchian, a lifelong Arsenal fan, made his shrewdest deal in 2004 when he founded Media Sports Investments to make a partnership with Brazilian side, Corinthians.
Incidentally, he had considered doing it with the Gunners because of his firm friendship with David Dein, but it was deemed to expensive.
That kick-started a fruitful relationship with Carlos Tevez, who he had a hand in moving around the globe from England to Italy to China and back to Argentina.
Joorabchian has since orchestrated ex-Chelsea star Oscar's move to China, Tiemoue Bakayoko's move to the Blues from Monaco and David Luiz's combined £91m transfer from Benfica to Chelsea to Paris Saint-Germain and back to Chelsea.
His coup d'etat though was being the man in the middle for Philippe Coutinho's £142m transfer to Barcelona from Liverpool.
3. Mino Raiola
If there were awards for most outspoken agent, Raiola, 51, would win every time.
Over the years, he has represented the most well-known players in the world, including Zlatan Ibrahimović, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marco Verratti, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Mario Balotelli and Pavel Nedved.
In 2016, he closed the-then world record transfer of Pogba from Juventus to Man United for £89.3m.
Raiola was reported to have made a cool £23m for engineering that deal, which wasn't bad for a summer's work.
While over the years Ibrahimovic has moved for combined fees of around £143 million over the years, which Raiola would've had a nice slice of that pie.
He currently resides in Monaco, but also bought Al Capone's home in Miami for around £8m.
Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't a fan, once calling him a "s***bag".
2. Jonathan Barnett
A seasoned pro in the game, Barnett first ever client wasn't even in football - it was West Indian cricket legend Brian Lara.
Barnett, 68, is the founder and boss of Stellar Group Limited, headlined by clients including Gareth Bale, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard and Jordan Pickford.
He masterminded Bale's £86m move to Real Madrid in 2013, and has proven to draw a hard bargain in the boardroom.
Case in point, just ask the money men at Man United who agreed to draw out a five-year deal for left back Shaw worth £190k per week.
But, unlike Raiola, Barnett does like to keep his matters about feelings on the pitch private.
However, he has found himself responding to criticism of his most high profile client, Bale.
Once, after Roy Keane slammed the Welshman's performance in a Champions League semifinal against Juventus calling him ineffectual, Barnett leapt to his player's defence.
He had a statistic report made that proved Bale's Real Madrid teammates weren't passing the ball to him as much as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
1. Jorge Mendes
The most powerful agent in football could just be the most powerful man in the entire game.
And the annual commission his firm Gestifute takes in commission is thought by
Of course, looking after prized asset Cristiano Ronaldo has meant that Mendes, 53, has the sports world's most valued star.
But it's not just Ronaldo who the "super-agent" has built his castle upon.
There's Jose Mourinho, David de Gea, James Rodriguez and Diego Costa who are all happy clients too.
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His most profitable year came in the summer of 2014, when he brokered four of the seven biggest transfer deals in the world - earning an estimated £30m.
Those deals included Man City's flop £32m signing Eliaquim Mangala from Porto, as well as Angel Di Maria's £60m move from Real Madrid to Man United.
Mendes has an exclusive deal with Premier League giants Wolves where he acts as a transfer adviser to the club's owners.
That, in turn, has helped bring Portuguese stars like Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho to excited the Molineux faithful.