Top five football agents in the world

Behind every successful world-class footballer, is a brilliant football agent who is constantly working hard to pull the strings in their favour.

For almost all superstars, from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, their football agents carry out a hugely important role in the background as they focus on securing the best deals for the players they represent.

Over the past few years, football agents have become household names, as much as their superstar clients themselves. Hence, it is also no longer an extraordinary event when they become the subjects of news headlines while the players themselves take a back seat.

To be a top football agent may seem to you like a very high-profile job - in which case you're not wrong. But along with the glitz and glamour that one may associate with this life, come tonnes of responsibilities as well. This is why we know only a handful of football agents that have truly excelled in their profession.

As fans, most of us occasionally wonder who might be the best football agents in the world. Therefore, without further ado, here is Khel Now's list of top five agents who are undoubtedly the best in the business. Read on!

5. Jose Otin

Jose Otin may not be a familiar name to most readers - this is because he chooses to stay away from the limelight. Most of Otin's clients are from Spain, which is why he is very popular among La Liga clubs.

Based in Madrid, Otin is also one of the best agents from the Bahia Internacional agency, which has a host of stars on its books, the biggest of which are Arsenal's Real Madrid loanee Dani Ceballos, Bayern Munich’s Javi Martinez, Mikel Merino, Vitolo, Asier Illarramendi, Pedro, Raul Garcia, Jesus Navas and Nacho Monreal.

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The Bahia Internacional agency has over 100 players on their books, out of which Otin is believed to monitor contracts worth £244million ($303million) as per Forbes.

Whenever a big Spanish star makes a high-profile move from La Liga to England, you can mostly expect Otin to be the man behind the switch.

4. Volker Struth

Volker Struth is similar to Jose Otin in many ways - like Otin, he rarely craves media attention. He also focuses mainly on players from the same country - the only difference between Otin and Struth here is that the former prefers Spanish players while the latter mostly has clients from Germany. In addition, Struth is also one of the richest sports agents from Germany.

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However, that does not mean that he does not have an impressive portfolio of clients - Toni Kroos, Dayot Upamecano, Marco Reus, Suat Serdar, Niklas Stark, Luca Waldschmidt and Amadou Haidara are some of the most prominent names from football working with him currently. Overall, he is in charge of contracts worth £375million ($464million), and is the 11th richest sports agent in the world according to Forbes.

Struth was largely responsible for Kroos' move to Real Madrid in 2014, and looking back, fans of the club will realise why this was one of the most successful transfers conducted by the club in recent years.

3. Jonathan Barnett

For most fans, Jonathan Barnett is the man who is the agent of Gareth Bale, the Real Madrid ace who seems to prefer golf more these days. The whole "Golf, Wales, Madrid, in that order" episode has soured the relationship between the Welsh footballer and Los Blancos fans, and as Barnett appeared in the media a number of times to defend his client, he has made himself a hated personality among the club's faithful.

However, it is not very easy to forget the 30-year-old's contributions to the Spanish side, and hence they will have to thank the 70-year-old for playing one of the most important roles in his big-money move from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013. But Bale is not the only star managed by his agency, Stellar Groups Ltd.

Saul Niguez, Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell, Ibrahima Konate, Wojciech Szczesny, Jack Grealish, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Daniel James are only a few of the most important names on his clientele. In fact, he is reported to be in command of contracts worth $1.3billion, making him the richest sports agent in the world currently as per Forbes magazine.

Stellar Groups Ltd. also handles clients from other sports such as boxing and cricket. Meanwhile, Barnett is also credited as being the man who brought three-time world heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis, into the world of boxing.

2. Mino Raiola

Only very few fans of football will be unfamiliar with the name Mino Raiola. One of the popular, yet controversial football agents, Raiola has the likes of Paul Pogba, Erling Braut Haaland, Matthijs de Ligt, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Justin Kluivert, Mario Balotelli, Romelu Lukaku and Gianluigi Donnarumma on his books.

The 52-year-old football agent a big name for his involvement in some high-profile transfers recently, starting with Pogba's then-world record €105million transfer from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016. The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner continues to remain his most prized asset, as he often appears in the media to talk about him. He is now helping the 27-year-old move away from Old Trafford, according to reports from various sources.

Raiola is well known for his undying efforts to make sure that his players remain in the spotlight. The Dutch agent himself is the owner of a big personality, which is why he seems to have a knack of dealing with equally big stars from the sport - like Ibrahimovic for instance. He is also known for doing whatever it takes to secure the best deals for his clients - something which has made him quite unpopular with the fans and managers of several clubs.

Overall, he is estimated to monitor contracts worth £508million ($628.9million). Forbes magazine puts him at the fifth place in the list of all-time richest sports agents in the world right now.

1. Jorge Mendes

Jorge Mendes is regarded as one of the most powerful football agents in the sport right now. His long list of clients includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Diego Costa, James Rodriguez, Bernardo Silva and so on.

The 54-year-old, who also has Tottenham Hotspur head coach Jose Mourinho on his books, is reported to have a portfolio of contracts on his books worth in excess of £807million ($1billion). Forbes magazine puts him at the third place in the list of all-time richest sports agents in the world, and that says a lot about the success he has achieved so far.

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Needless to say, Cristiano is Mendes' biggest client, and he orchestrated the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's move from Manchester United to Real Madrid and later, his move from Los Blancos to Juventus. The Portugal-based agent also holds the role of transfer advisor at Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Mendes entered the profession after meeting now-Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo in a bar. He arranged the then young goalkeeper’s transfer to Spain and has not looked back since. He is well known for being a shrewd negotiator and a brilliant talent-finder, and was also the recipient of the "Best Agent of the Year" award at the Globe Soccer Awards in December 2019.