Major football agent Mino Raiola seriously ill, according to reports

Prominent football agent Mino Raiola is seriously ill, according to those close to him.

Reports began circulating in Italian media circles that the famous agent had died, but that has since been disputed.

The Italian, who represents some of the biggest names in football, began his career as a football agent in the 1990s before going independent and putting himself firmly on the map with the acquisition of Ballon d'Or winner Pavel Nedved, nine years before he won the precious accolade.

Raiola has some of the most prominent footballers due to move this summer on his books, including Erling Haaland, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku, and is known for being a tough operator that clubs at times find difficult to deal with.

In previous years, he has negotiated some of the biggest deals in world football and was regarded alongside Jorge Mendes as one of the 'super agents' of the game, making a significant commission off every transfer made.

Biggest transfers set up by Raiola

While not involved in the biggest transfers in world football, there have certainly been plenty of big deals set up by Raiola. These include:

Paul Pogba, Juventus to Manchester United, £90m

Romelu Lukaku, Everton to Manchester United, £75m

Matthijs de Ligt, Ajax to Juventus, £75m

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Inter Milan to Barcelona, £45m

These deals were expected to be eclipsed this summer, with an agreement reported to have been struck between the agent and Manchester City for the transfer of Erling Haaland, while Paul Pogba is set to be looking for a new club as a free agent, and Raiola pair Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui expected set to join Bayern Munich as part of a package deal.

It is unclear just how these deals will proceed with the influential agent in such a condition, or what will happen to his empire of players.