OPINION: Milan are slaves to Raiola's will, risk turning into Moggi's Juventus
Milan's relationship with the man who now represents five of their squad players (including goalkeeping hotshot Gigi Donnarumma) is beyond the trust and even the friendship that can develop between clubs and agents, and is likely to affect their ability to operate indipendently on the transfer market.
As calciomercato.com have already revealed thanks to Fabrizio Romano, Bonaventura's decision to switch agents was linked to Milan's refusal to up his wages.
By pure chance, Bonaventura chose Raiola, saying goodbye to Giocondo Martorelli, the man who had represented him ever since he was a young kid in Atalanta's youth setup.
All of a sudden, Bonaventura's demands are much more palatable to Milan, especially Adriano Galliani- who is now allegedly willing to double his salary. Reports would have us believe the CEO was stunned by Bonaventura's recent performances.
Really? Jack's always been one of the team's unsung heroes, one of its most consistent and productive players, and it's not as if he's suddenly morphed into Kaka of late. Was Galliani brought round by Bonaventura's new agent?
With Bonaventura, Raiola is now representing Mario Balotelli, Ignazio Abate, Donnarumma and Rodrigo Ely at Milanello. They're not the only ones who have worn the red and black of late, with Urby Emanuelson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also in the mix, as well as Felipe Mattioni, a full-back who was brought in on loan in 2009. The Italo-Brazilian now plies his trade at Doncaster Rovers. What on earth compelled Galliani to bring this guy in?
Comparisons to Luciano Moggi's Juventus are, regrettably, hard to avoid. Back then, a suspicious amount of the Old Lady's charges were represented by Lucky Luciano's son, Alessandro. Among his clients, a certain Antonio Conte, who is currently manager of the national side.
Oh, was this the same Alessandro Moggi whose name was mentioned when current Fiorentina boss Paulo Sousa left Juventus, with reports that the club turned on him when he refused to fire his agent and hire Moggi Junior instead? Oh yeah! How did that story end? Sousa immediately joined Borussia Dortmund, who would go on to win the Champions League that season.... defeating Juventus 3-1 in the final. You can't make this stuff up.
