Who to follow during the summer transfer window and why
Like a football match, player transfers can also be tricky to predict. Lounge looks at some reliable sources known for their accurate updates
The summer transfer window for the Premier League, arguably the biggest football league in the world, opened on 10 June. This marked the frenzy period when teams around the globe – the transfer window for some European leagues opens in July – get busy preparing for the new season. Players are sold, pursued, purchased, sent out on or recalled from loan spells. Transfer records often get shattered during this time, as billions are spent by football clubs as they search for their next superstar.
Some big deals have already been concluded and announced. Both Liverpool and Manchester City have signed perhaps the most sought-after young strikers in world football at the moment. While Liverpool completed the transfer of Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, 22, from Benfica for a deal worth up to €100m (£85m), City have bought 21-year-old Erling Haaland from German club Borussia Dortmund for £51m. This fee is expected to rise further when you take into account agent fees, a signing bonus and actual wages.
There’s still a long time to go before the summer transfer window closes—1 September 2022. Other big clubs around Europe are not wasting any time though. Champions League winners Real Madrid recently completed the £85.3 million signing of 22-year-old midfielder Aurelién Tchouaméni from French club AS Monaco. Manchester United, on the other hand, seem to be in the middle of another transfer story with FC Barcelona’s Dutch player Frenkie de Jong. Whether or not that deal happens is anyone’s guess.
Just like a tense football game, which can never be predicted until the referee blows the final whistle, player transfers can also be tricky to call. Many of them can fall through right at the final stage for a variety of reasons. To help you navigate the transfer season—not just for the Premier League—here’s a look at some reliable sources that are known for their accurate updates from the footballing world.
Fabrizio Romano
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano is easily one of the most trusted names in football, when it comes to reliable transfer updates. What makes Romano an interesting source and transfer expert to follow, is the fact that his expertise goes beyond just football player transfers. He also shares regular and accurate updates on managerial appointments, player contract extensions and much else.
Be it a mid-table club in Turkey, one of the powerhouse clubs in the Premier League or clubs from the Spanish La Liga, Romano brings transfer updates from all across Europe. He has close to 8.6 million followers on his Twitter handle @FabrizioRomano. Romano also has a massive presence on YouTube, with more than 945,000 subscribers, where he posts regular videos on not only transfer updates but other big news and announcements from football clubs. You can also follow him on Instagram.
Apart from that, Romano is a regular contributor to the likes of The Guardian, where he writes behind-the-scenes stories on how a particular transfer shaped up and worked out. Romano also hosts The Here We Go podcast, with fellow sports journalist Francesco
Porzio, which offers a sneak peek into the world of football transfers. When Romano says the three magic words “Here we go” you know that a transfer will definitely go through.
Transfer Centre Live from Sky Sports
Sky Sports’ Transfer Centre Live is an evergreen source to follow the latest transfer deals, rumours and gossip. Transfer Centre Live is an endless scrolling feed that keeps getting updated regularly, and it has a reader-friendly design. Breaking news transfer deals and updates, for example, are highlighted on bright yellow backgrounds. Different logos are used interestingly here as well. A confirmed deal often carries a logo of a handshake. If it’s just a news update—Sky Sports calls it ‘Paper Talk’—you see the logo of a newspaper next to it.
Updates on Transfer Centre Live are also interspersed with analytical pieces on the different transfers and players involved, comments and opinion from Sky Sports journalists and regular polls for the readers. That’s not all. You can also see transfer news roundups and gossip for different clubs on this feed. These roundups are essentially quick snapshots of headlines or news compiled from different sources across Europe.
Transfer News Live (Twitter: @DeadlineDayLive)
Transfer News Live brings you all the latest news and updates on football transfers all year round. This excellent Twitter handle combines the latest news and updates from multiple sources, including the likes of Romano. A lot of their updates are also based on official statements from different teams and football clubs. Clean tweets and a clear mention of the source to which the news or update is attributed to make this a good source to follow. No wonder their handle has approximately 1.2 million followers on Twitter and more than 1.1 million likes on its Facebook page as well.
Live transfer blog from TalkSport
One of the world’s biggest sports radio stations also has an amazing live blog on football transfers. In fact, the transfers section on talksport.com is heaven for football fans. It not only has the latest news on completed transfer deals, but interesting player profiles, photo-galleries and stories on what the starting XI for some of the biggest teams could look like after they sign new players. Overall, this is a happening space that you should definitely follow during the transfer window.
Transfer Interactive from The Guardian
If you like a combination of numbers and an interactive format to understand football transfers, then The Guardian’s Transfer Interactive is meant for you. You can find details on all of the summer’s Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide, everything in one place.
You can look at deals league-wise, the most recent ones or even sort them depending on the transfer fee or price paid for a particular player. Right at the top of this section, you see a live count on the total number of deals completed and the total value of money spent on transfers. When you switch to the club-by-club guide, you can see all the ins and outs of a team, plus a transfer balance figure. This is basically what you call a ‘net spend’—how much a club eventually spends after selling and buying players in the transfer window.
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First Published:23 Jun 2022, 01:30 PM IST
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