In matters such as transfer conditions and contract renewal negotiations, it is inevitable that there will be contact with the agent representing the player, and the most successful one is La Ora, a name that no one in the soccer world knows. Unfortunately, he passed away in April last year after a long illness, and the player manager he founded is a relatively unknown name, but it's the strong woman who has been behind him in everything: Rafaela Pimenta.
Female agents are rare in the male-dominated world of soccer, and even rarer when it comes to making a name for themselves. But Pimenta has become one of the most influential figures in the soccer world, managing under her banner a number of leading players: Xheranthe (whose move to Manchester City was made possible by her), Ibrahim Mogwai (who just announced his retirement), Pouba, Waratahi, etc., and rising stars such as two Liverpool rumored acquisition targets Ryan Gravenberch and Khephren Thuram. Pimenta in the world of football brokerage rolled just over twenty years, born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, she was a lawyer before joining the profession, once for the Brazilian government to play a legislative work, but also in a number of university law school lecturers to teach the law, in order to attract students to the class she also introduced the FIFA and soccer law courses, and then began to some Brazilian players will come to her for legal advice. It was only when some Brazilian players started to come to her for legal advice that she started to get involved in soccer matters.
Pimenta's encounter with Lahona began in 2001, when Pimenta was helping Brazilian celebrities Lee Wardo and Sampaio set up a new soccer club, and met Lahona at a conference. She still remembers that the two of them were in the same room, and that Lahona was smoking a cigarette and asked for legal advice, taking the opportunity to learn more about her background. Pimenta thought to herself, "What's wrong with you?" when she saw Lahona's haughty and arrogant attitude. Years later, La Ora shared his first impression of her as "a woman who dares to show off her sword, a lucky man".
Pimenta's ability was highly appreciated by Laona, and initially her friends were against the idea of her joining the profession and abandoning law to join the soccer industry. However, after being invited by Laona, Pimenta decided to give up her doctorate in law to join the player manager industry. They founded the player agency OneSportsBusinessStrategy and set up an office in Monaco, which is not the most extensive, focusing on about 30 players in order to allocate more resources to take care of each player. Lahona and Pimenta speak a total of 12 languages, but their different personalities and approaches complement each other, with Pimenta sometimes helping Lahona put out fires. While Lahona is a "dumpdeal veteran" with a lot of experience in dealing with football clubs, Pimenta is a legal advisor who focuses on contractual details, acting as a mediator and working behind the scenes. Compared to Layona, Pimenta is more like a player's "nanny": she will go to the player's house to find out about his habits, such as what he eats, what's in the refrigerator, and if necessary, she will arrange for a chef, home cleaner and nutritionist for the player, and even a player's house was "blown up" by thieves, and he called her in the middle of the night in a panic to ask for help. In Pimenta's eyes, a player is a player, the first thing is to play well, pay attention to the details of life, and at the same time shoulder a social responsibility. Especially in today's advanced online media world, every word and every action of the players are being watched and even magnified, so she also has a special public relations staff to help the players filter online information and take care of the social media.
In a male-dominated world, it's not easy for a woman to gain a foothold, and Pimenta has had her fair share of snide remarks and insults. It takes a thick skin to make it in this business, or else you're not going to make it. After Lahona's death in April last year, Pimenta has taken on a major role in the company, which is now run by three full-time colleagues, three part-time and a team of consultants who are based around the world. Asked by many whether she is an agent or a nanny, Pimenta doesn't mind the labels and sees her job as crisis management, disaster prevention, creating the best possible environment for players to play in, and telling them the truth, no matter what the cost. What motivates her to keep doing this job?
"Being a broker requires total commitment because your work is so important that it can change the lives of many people. It's priceless to see young people go from training in the ghetto to being able to support their parents or even future generations of family members a few years later".
Players under the RafaelaPimenta managerial umbrella include (partial list only):
E Haaland Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Paul Pogba (Zwondas)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan)
Marco Verratti (PSG)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG)
MatthijsdeLigt, Dillet (Bayern Munich)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Inter Milan)
Kasper Dolberg (Westville, on loan from Nice)
Xavi Simons, Schmons (PSV Yanhofen)
W Benítez Walter Benítez (PSV Yanhofen)
Andrea Pinamonti (Sassuolo, loan from Inter Milan)
Mario Balotelli (Sion)
J Gouwalt Justin Kluivert (Valencia, on loan from Rome)
Khephren Thuram, Khephren Thuram (Nice)
Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich)
RafaelaPimenta-led player trades (since last summer).
E Charente Dumont to Manchester City, £51million (can be boosted to £85.5million on performance)
Dilettante Zwondas to Bayern Munich, £68million
Alphonse Areola-PSG to Westham, £7.75million
W Binidis Nis goes to PSV Yanhofen, for free!
Mihidane Roma to Inter Milan, free of charge.
