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SUPER AGENT PULLING STRINGS ON ZLAT FUTURE

MANCHESTER UNITED are in danger of becoming a one-man show in their quest to get back to being the most successful club in the land.

But I don’t mean Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his remarkable talents. I’m referring to his agent, Mino Raiola.

United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been limping around on crutches in recent weeks.

The joke doing the rounds is it’s because Raiola has got a delicate part of Woodward’s anatomy in a vice-like grip.

The reason for Woodward’s discomfort is nothing more sinister than a bout of arthritis, but the gag might not be too far from the truth.

The fact remains Raiola (right) has the squeeze on United bosses as he bids to overtake Jorge Mendes as the most powerful agent in world football. And Woodward’s eyes could be about to water again. Starsport understands Woodward and Raiola have struck up quite a friendship – and it isn’t hard to see why. Last summer Raiola and Woodward negotiated the transfers of Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba to United. All three just happen to be part of Raiola’s extensive and exclusive stable of clients and the Italian-born fixer made hay while the sun shone. Reports claim he trousered £25m alone from Pogba’s £89m world record switch from Juventus to Old Trafford. The total commission United paid him exceeded £40m and Raiola decided to treat himself with the £7m purchase of the luxury Miami villa once owned by famous American mob boss Al Capone.

He now spends his time flitting between Miami and Monaco, where he owns an apartment.

Capone was not a man to be messed with – nor is Raiola.

So the alarm bells should be ringing in Woodward’s ears following the news MLS big spenders LA Galaxy want to sign Ibrahimovic this summer.

Snubbed

Raiola has denied Galaxy’s interest. But well-placed sources within the club have confirmed Ibrahimovic, 35, is on their radar and has been since he snubbed them last summer in favour of joining United.

Despite being willing to break the bank to lure him to the States, Galaxy are no match for United’s financial might.

But that doesn’t mean a move to California will not appeal to Ibrahimovic. It is one of the few frontiers still left to conquer.

The Swede has the option of a 12-month contract extension at United and has promised to make a decision in May. But he owes United nothing. They are indebted to him.

Both United boss Jose Mourinho and Woodward have made no secret of how desperate they are for him to stay.

But Galaxy’s interest in him has added a new dimension to the scenario and Raiola will be rubbing his hands together.

He has United right where he wants them – at his mercy.

Ibrahimovic has been Raiola’s golden ticket to the big time ever since the pair met for lunch in an Amsterdam restaurant in 2003, when the latter ordered enough food to feed five and proceeded to demolish the whole lot in front of the stunned star.

But somehow Ibrahimovic admired how Raiola didn’t care what people thought of him.

That golden ticket hasn’t lost its shine just yet and Woodward is now in danger of being deep in Raiola’s pocket once again.

It seems like the man pulling the strings at one of the biggest clubs in the world doesn’t even work there – and the man who should be calling the shots is actually the puppet.