Agents in football have more and more power nowadays and the Donnarumma case with Raiola is just the latest example. Among the most powerful agents, Corriere della Sera, highlight Kia Joorabchian, who last year was also at the center of Suning’s market, as one of the most powerful football agents in the world:
“In the ranking of the newspaper Daily Telegraph, Kia Joorabchian is in 4th place among the most powerful agents in the world, behind Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola and Jonathan Barnett. It’s been just over a year since the Suning Group bought about 70% of Inter and since then the name of Kia has often been linked with Inter. The 45 year old Iranian-born is more than just an agent, he is a businessman. He has closed ties not only with Inter, but with many other clubs and was the first to realized the potential economic power of Chinese football.”
“Among the companies he owns in the Virgin Islands, sporting funds and close connections, Kia has moved fast -claims Corriere della Sera – Even before the arrival of Suning to Inter, he had done business in China, selling Alex Teixeira and Ramires to Jiangsu (and another group coached by Fabio Capello): two players for 80M. His relationship with the Chinese became a bit weak for a while, but last summer he was the star of Inter purchases. There was bad blood between Roberto Mancini and Kia since Manchester City days and with the departure of Mancini, Kia has been the advisor of Suning. He was responsible for both the Joao Mario and Gabigol transfers.”
Source: Corriere della Sera
