Today he manages a stable that is worthwhile half a billion euros and which he boasts to his credit soccer players come Haaland e Pogba. She is the Lady of transfer market. But establishing himself in a world like that of football was not easy: to tell his story to Corriere della Sera And Rafaela Pimentaa lawyer of Brazilian origins, who inherited the company’s legacy One Of Montecarlofounded by Mino Raiolathe famous prosecutor who disappeared a year ago, on April 30, 2022.
The rise of the lawyer in the world of football starts from the meeting with Raiola which took place in Brazil: the point of contact is Pimenta’s partner, who asks her to give legal aid for a football club Rivaldo e Cesar Sampaio. “I go into their office and there’s a guy sitting there smoking like crazy and asking a thousand questions. We argue, because he wants to know more than me. A couple of months go by and he calls me back: do you want to work with me? I didn’t want to, because I already had a good position. Then I gave in. And there it all began. I left Brazil and arrived in Europe”. This is how she begins her journey as sports attorney, alongside what you define as “a revolutionary, who changed the way of being an agent, putting the player at the center”. The couple will continue to work together for 27 years: “We were different, one crazy couplebut aligned”.
An adventure, the one in the world of football, which was not immune from problems: “They insulted me many times. Many think that women are inferior: some use it as a strategy, others really think it. Once in Italy a manager said to me: ‘Are you really a lawyer? I thought you were one prostitute Brazilian’. I replied: ‘Even if you were, you would still have to pay the premium to my client’”. And it is for this reason that Pimenta hopes one day to achieve a real one gender equalityeven in the world of football: a “salary, management and recognition” equality.
A difficult world, which the sports attorney never abandoned, not even in moments of greatest discouragement: “There was a moment, during the illness of Raiolain which I thought of quit – he says – But it wasn’t right. It wasn’t for me, for our clients, for the people who worked with us, for Mino”. After the sports agent’s death, numerous offers from other prosecutors to take over the company arrived: but for Pepper they were just “temptations to which I never gave in”.
And when asked about Erling Haalandthe player on whom all the spotlights are currently focused, replies: “I’m not telling you how much it costs, but what it’s worth: he will be the first player to be worth a billion. Think of the related industries that he generates, at the age of just 22: trophies, sponsors, marketing, social media, content. How much can a club bring? Not only in the so-called real world, but also in the digital world. It will be there first sample of the metaverso. The future is there. He has it all: strength, humility. But his real strength is normality. His secret is his family: his father, a former footballer, helped him a lot. It will break all records“.