'Pogba wasn't just owned by Juventus' - Raiola admits to third party player ownership

Paul Pogba's agent Mino Raiola has claimed that "Juventus weren't the only owner of the player rights" and admitted to third-party ownership (TPO).

Pogba misses Juventus - and Juve miss Pogba

The midfielder, 23, completed a €105 million move to Manchester United from Juventus this summer, with Raiola earning €27m from the world record transfer.

"I can’t talk about the contract but, in a deal like Pogba’s, it’s not just the clubs who earn from it,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.

"I wasn't paid a fee by Juventus. I have to see how I can phrase this in a way that Juventus cannot tackle me through the law, let’s see... Hmm. How can I say it?"

After a long pause, he added: "Yes, in this deal Juventus was not the only owner of the player’s rights."

TPO is when a company, person or private fund own part of a player's economic rights - a practice banned by FIFA since 2015 and described as akin to "slavery" by former UEFA president Michel Platini.

Players who have infamously been involved in TPO agreements include Carlos Tevez, Radamel Falcao and Javier Mascherano.

FIFA chose to ban TPO in December 2014, with the rules coming into effect early the following year, although there remain prominent fears that some agents are circumventing the rules and taking advantage of loopholes.

The topic became a huge talking point in the UK last month when Sam Allardyce was booted out of the England job for claiming - while being covertly filmed - that TPO rules could be avoided to make a vast amount of money.

While Raiola admitted he financially benefited from TPO, he stressed it wasn't illegal when the France international first joined the Turin club in 2012.

"TPO wasn't banned then [when Pogba signed for Juve], only after [2015]," the agent continued. "I didn't often own stakes in players before then, but sometimes."

When asked if Pogba was one of those players, he responded: "It’s not TPO. Be careful with the legal definition of TPO. But let’s say that in that case there was an upside for our side.

"And by our side, I mean the player’s side. It’s not allowed any more."

Despite Raiola's supposed revelations, Juve have insisted that no third party had ownership deals with any of their players.

Sevilla, Santos and FC Twente have all been fined in 2016 for breaching TPO rules.