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Who is Kia Joorabchian, the man who controls Inter (part one)
Joorabchian has also many contacts in South America (especially Argentina and Brazil) as well as in the MLS.
Kia became Felipe Anderson’s agent a few months ago. He has persuaded Lotito to allow the player to join Brazil Olympic team and extend his contract at the club. Wait, there’s more. Have you ever asked yourself why on heart Benfica have signed Adel Taarabt making him one of the most paid players of the squad?
Despite reports claiming it, Kia is not the man who brought the concept of third part ownerships in Europe, even if he’s the responsible for Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano’s transfer to West Ham in August 2006. The players’ economic rights belonged to Virgin Island-based Media Sports Investments at the time, but the First Portuguese Football Players Fund had been already founded four years before.
This fund was created in 2002 and used to acquire the economic rights of many players controlled by a certain Jorge Mendes. Joorabchian’s noisy impact in England put light on TPOs, an emergency that was present even before Kia’s arrival in Europe, but which was also much underestimated.
First Portuguese Football Players Fund was closed in 2006 as chiefs were scared of FIFA’s harmless crackdown on TPOs.
No secret that Kia is on very good terms with Pini Zahavi. Actually, Pini can be considered Kia’s mentor alongside Doyen’s CEO Nelio Lucas. Thanks to his good relationship with Pini Zahavi, Joorabchian has made a name for himself as a global broker of football businesses. Kia & Pini have found plenty of room for business with Inter and if Tevez will really join the nerazzurri, that would be the final proof that the Serie A side and the nerazzurri are now best friends.
Meantime, the Joao Mario deal is more than enough to see how close Inter and Kia are. The player’s € 50 million price-tag is beyond the player’s real value like it usually happens when it comes to buy and sell Portuguese players. Just think about Andre Gomes’ potential € 50 million Barcelona move and Renato Sanches’ € 80 million switch (with add-ons) to Bayer Munich.
Joao Mario has switched agents many times over the last few years. The Portuguese and his brother Wilson Eduardo were both represented by Pini Zahavi in 2013, but when the players’ agent and new Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho argued, Joao Mario decided to hire Jorge Mendes who has always been on very good terms with Pini, that’s why we struggle to think about an act of spite of the Portuguese towards Mr. Zahavi.
In the 2015-16 campaign relationship between Mendes and Sporting fragmented once again and guess who become Joao Mario’s agent? Exactly, Kia Joorabchain who is now travelling to Lisbon as a middleman to negotiate the transfer of one of his clients. It takes more than FIFA’s weak rules to scare him.
End of part 1
Pippo Russo [@Pippoevai], translated by @lorebetto
