Mino Raiola: Football agent of Paul Pogba and Erling Haaland posts Twitter message after false reports of his death

Mino Raiola, the world reknowned football agent, remains alive but in a serious condition in hospital amid false reports of his death.

Reports in the Italian media claimed the 54-year-old - who represents superstar players such as Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - had died on Thursday morning, leaving the football world in a state of shock.

However, those reports were denied in a tweet posted from Raiola's official Twitter account a few hours later, which stated: "Current health status for the ones wondering: p***** off second time in 4 months they kill me. Seem also able to resuscitate."

His doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, based at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, was also quoted by La Reppublica newspaper as saying: “I am outraged by the phone calls from pseudo journalists who speculate on the life of a man who is fighting.”

A tweet from Raiola's official account in January said he had undergone medical checks requiring anaesthesia, but that he had not had emergency surgery.

He is reportedly suffering from a lung condition not linked to Covid-19.

Raiola was born in Italy but grew up in the Netherlands, and first stepped into the world of football agency by working on the deal that took Dutch forward Bryan Roy to Italian club Foggia and then acted as an interpreter in Dennis Bergkamp's move from Ajax to Inter Milan.

Czech star Pavel Nedved became Raiola's first big-name client, and he has steadily built his reputation in Italian and world football over the years since.

World reknowned football agent Mino Raiola remains alive but in a serious condition in hospital amid false reports of his death. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Raiola's often outspoken approach has not always endeared him to club managers, with former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer unhappy at what he saw as the Italian stirring up trouble over Pogba's future.

It was reported in the 'Football Leaks: The Dirty Business of Football' book in 2017 that Raiola stood to earn up to £41million from Pogba's £89million transfer from Juventus to United.

He has criticised plans from FIFA to introduce caps on agents' fees, which the global governing body says is part of an effort to curb the "excessive and abusive" sums leaving the game in the hands of player representatives.