The modern-day football fan has access to an unlimited amount of information about their favourite player, club or team. And when it comes to transfers, as there is a huge thirst for information, there is a huge industry which keeps churning out rumours. The majority of the football transfer rumour news articles, reports and tweets have no basis and are pure fiction just to attract clicks. So after reaching out to over 30 team and league Reddit communities, we have our Football Transfer Sources Reliability Guide. It’s worth noting that this covers only Rumours and not confirmed transfers on official Club Websites or Social Media accounts. Before we look at the results, let’s review the breakdown of how the tiers work:
Aug 2020 Update– We have updated the below list to downgrade a few journalists, upgrade a lucky few and remove some altogether.
Who are the most reliable football transfer sources?
If you are looking to follow only a few journalists for transfer rumours, we recommend the below five.
- Fabrizio Romano- Currently the most reliable football journalist for transfer news
- David Ornstein
- Mohamed Bouhafsi
- Di Marzio
- Simon Stone
Football Transfer Source Reliability Tiers
- Tier 1 – Almost undisputed when discussing a Transfer Rumour. They may not be the first to discuss a rumour, but if they are talking about it; then it is almost certainly true, and possibly close to complete.
- Tier 2 – Known to have current sources, but are still fallible and just short of being considered an authority on rumour discussions. However, multiple individuals or sources from this tier reporting the same rumour may indicate a strong possibility of truth to the rumour.
- Tier 3 – Unreliable, and not to be trusted solo. They fall into near click-bait practices and are often fighting for relevance in a sea of rumours.
- Tier 4 – Not to be trusted at all. These companies make money out of ensuring that you read them and they will make up anything to get you to harness advertising revenue.
- Tier 5 – Don’t waste your time reading them
Tier 1 Transfer Rumour Sources
| Fabrizio Romano (Here we go!) – Currently the best! |
| Simon Stone (Manchester Clubs) |
| David Ornstein (London Clubs) |
| Adam Blackmore (Southampton) – BBC (England) |
| Ben Pearce (Spurs) – Freelance (England) |
| Mohammed Bouhafsi – RMC (France) |
| Mike Verweij – Telegraaf (Nederlands) |
| Gerard Romero (Barcelona) – RAC1(Spain) |
| Edu Polo – Mundo Deportivo (Spain) |
| Gianluca Di Marzio – Freelance |
| Sky Italia- (Italian related Transfers Only for Tier 1) |
| RTP 1 (Portugal) |
| Alfredo Pedulla (AC Milan) – Freelance (Italy) |
| Romeo Agresti (Juventus) – Goal.com (Italy) |
| Stephan von Nocks & Frank Lußem – Kicker(Germany) |
| Ruhr Nachrichten (Schalke & Borrusia Dortmund) (Germany) |
| Sam Lee – Goal.com (England) |
| Craig Norwood(Manchester United) – Freelance (England) |
| George Caulkin (Newcastle United) – The Times (England) |
| Keith Downie (Newcastle United) – Sky Sports (England) |
| Craig Hope (Newcastle United) – Daily Mail (England) |
| Reviersport (Schalke) |
| Paris United (France) |
| Adam Leventhal (Watford) – Sky Sports (England) |
| Paul Joyce (Liverpool & Everton) – Times (England) |
| James Pearce (Liverpool) – Echo (England) |
Tier 2 Transfer Rumour Sources
| Matt Law (Chelsea) – Telegraph (England) |
| James Ducker (Chelsea & Manchester Clubs) – Telegraph(England) |
| Bild (Germany) |
| COPE (Spain) |
| Dan Kilpatrick (Spurs) – ESPN (England/US) |
| Lyall Thomas (Spurs) – Sky Sports (England) |
| Ed Aarons (Spurs) – Guardian (England) |
| Martin Blackburn (Manchester City) – The Sun (England) |
| Simon Mullock(Manchester City) – The Mirror (England) |
| Lee Ryder (Newcastle United) – The Chronicle (England) |
| Daily Echo (Southampton) |
| L’Equipe (France) |
| Amy Lawrence (Arsenal) – Guardian (England) |
| Raphael Honigstein – Sky Germany (Germany) |
| NTVSpor (Turkey) |
| Serdar Saridag – Millyet(Turkey) |
| oJogo (Portugal) |
| Ahmet Ercanlar (Fenerbache) – Hürriyet Gazetesi (Turkey) |
| Sky Sport Italia (Italy) |
| LigTv (Turkey) |
| BeIn (Turkey) |
| Radio Catalunya (Barcelona) (Spain) |
| Radio Renascença (Portugal) |
| Cadena SER (Spain) |
| Sid Lowe – Freelance (Spain) |
| Melissa Reddy – Independent (Liverpool) |
| Leverkusener Anzeiger (Bayer Leverkusen) (Germany) |
| Der Westen (Germany) |
Tier 3 Transfer Rumour Sources
| Telegraph (England) |
| Guardian (England) |
| Independent (England) |
| Sky Sports (England) |
| Ian Ladyman (Manchester Clubs) – The Mirror (England) |
| Manchester Evening News (England) |
| Jim White – Sky Sports (England) |
| ESPN (Various) |
| The Echo (Liverpool |
| Everton) (England) |
| RMC Sport(France) |
| Futbol Arena (Turkey) |
| Record (Portugal) |
| aBola (Portugal) |
| Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy) |
| Corriere dello Sport (Italy) |
| Il Tempo (Italy) |
| la Repubblica (Italy) |
| Get French Football News (France) |
| Le Parisien (France) |
| Transfer Merkezi (Turkey) |
| Mundo Deportivo (Spain) |
| Sport (Spain) |
| COPE(Spain) |
| Onda Cero (Spain) |
| Rudy Galetti |
| Sport1 (Germany) |
Tier 4 Transfer Rumour Sources
| Paul Merson (England) |
| The Sun (England) |
| Daily Mail (England) |
| Guillem Balague (England/Spain) |
| Duncan Castles(England) |
| Metro (England) |
| Mirror (England) |
| NBC Sports (US) |
| Sports Witness (Various) |
| Marca (Spain) |
| The Times |
| AS(Spain) |
| Fotomaç (Turkey) |
| Fanatik (Turkey) |
| Aspor (Turkey) |
| Hurriyet (Turkey) |
| Haberturk (Turkey) |
| Correio da Manhã (Portugal) |
| Tuttosport (Italy) |
| Voetbalzone.nl (Nederlands) |
| Pierre Menes (France) |
| Sky Germany (Germany) |
| Bleacher Report (Various) |
| The Athletic |
| Miguel Delaney(Freelance) (England) |
| Andy Mitten (Manchester United) – Freelance (England) |
| Talksport (U.K.) |
| Here is the City (Manchester Clubs) (England) |
Tier 5 Transfer Rumour Sources
| Tancredi Palmieri |
| IndyKaila |
| Daily Star |
| Don Balon |
| Squawka |
| LadBible |
| Caught Offside |
| Joe.ie |
| Joe.co.uk |
| 90min |
| Express |
| Muzzy Ocan |
| Diario Gol |
Most Reliable Football Transfer Sources on Twitter
Below is a list of most reliable twitter accounts to follow if you want the most reliable football transfer sources.
This post was originally compiled by u/spoofex and was published first on r/soccer/. Later modified to reflect the various changes.
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