Wagner Ribeiro

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Wagner Ribeiro is a Brazilian football agent, whose more famous clients include Real Madrid's young Brazilian forward Robinho as well as ex-Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo. Ribeiro was instrumental in engineering Robinho's transfer from Brazilian club Santos to Spanish giants Real Madrid, who dished out $30 million for the highly-rated youngster.^[1]

High-profile clients apart, Ribeiro is known for his controversial statements regarding players and teams. His penchant for making controversial statements was seen most recently when, after the sacking of Luxemburgo, Ribeiro laid into Real Madrid president Fiorentino Perez for what he claimed was an "unbalanced squad".

Ribeiro also famously claimed that some of Real Madrid's Spanish players, namely Raul Gonzalez, Guti and Iván Helguera did not get along with Real Madrid's growing contingent of Brazilian players. His words created a minor crisis at the club, with both fans and the press alike wondering if a lack of team spirit in Real Madrid's dressing room was the cause for their poor form. The crisis subsided to an extent when one of the players Ribeiro named, Iván Helguera, came out to strongly deny his claims.