Last updated on July 15th, 2022
If you follow football news on Twitter, you would have come across the phrase “Here We Go”, especially when it comes to the latest transfer news. One man is known to use the famous catchphrase in announcing completed transfers, and his name is Fabrizio Romano, a renowned football journalist.
Nowadays, it is the norm in football for major media houses to announce the deals carried out by clubs by directly referencing the journalist that breaks the news. In recent years, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has been one of the most prominent journalist and is known worldwide for his reportage of football transfer news.
The “Here We Go” phrase has become one of the most widely used in world football, with even footballers adopting the words for their personal use.
Furthermore, the phrase has even transcended the football world, with the Italian journalist announcing the victory of President Joe Biden in the 2020 elections using the phrase on his Twitter handle.
Contents
Who Is Fabrizio Romano?
Fabrizio Romano is a journalist who works with Sky Sports and Guardian. He started his career in journalism in a pretty peculiar way as a teenager in Italy. At 18, Romano still stayed with his parents when an upcoming agent contacted him to write a story on the transfer of an Argentine whiz from Barcelona’s La Masia to Sampdoria.
This whiz turned out to be PSG striker Mauro Icardi.
Romano would receive inside information less than twelve months later on another move for the striker, this time to Inter Milan. The catchphrase “Here We Go” was not part of his brand until later in his career when he reported the record-breaking transfer of Paul Pogba to Manchester United in 2016.
The journalist only used the phrase without knowing that it would soon become a viral sensation. According to Romano, his big break came when he broke the news of the transfer of Bruno Fernandes to Manchester United in 2020 after months of speculation.
Is Fabrizio Romano Reliable?
In a poll conducted by 90min, Fabrizio Romano emerged as one of the world’s most reliable journalists when it came to football transfers. Romano stated in a 2021 interview that he never reported a transfer unless he was 100% sure it was happening and had gotten verifiable information from a reliable source.
His sources are usually agents, clubs’ sporting directors and highly-placed individuals in clubs, who have access to facts and figures of deals.
However, many times, Romano is not usually the first person to announce a deal that is set to take place, but his announcement comes as a confirmation of such a deal.
At a time when journalists tried to get traffic to their pages by announcing Chris Smalling’s permanent move from Manchester United to Roma, Romano remained calculated and tried to ascertain the facts and figures behind the news before proceeding to announce it to his followers.
This is how reliable he has proven himself to be.
The same also happened when Romelu Lukaku signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2021. Romano had to wait to be sure before announcing the deal.
Compared to other similar journalists such as Christian Falk, David Ornstein and Gianluca Di Marzio (with whom he started his career), Romano has a wider reach and has a greater influence on football fans.
Fabrizio Romano has been in the business of transfer deals reporting for over a decade, and has managed to build a huge network of followers over time.
His online following is far greater than that of every other football journalist, having built it over the years. In the summer of 2021, he launched his personal YouTube channel which he uses to deliver videos and transfer updates to fans.
Fabrizio Romano has seen his stock rise very rapidly over the last two years.
However, for all his attention to detail and pursuit of accuracy, Romano has been found to have delivered unconfirmed news occasionally due to factors beyond his control. The most notable example of this was seen in the Lionel Messi saga in the summer of 2021.
Romano reported that the Barcelona captain had reached a contract resolution with the club and was set to sign a new contract. In reality, both parties had reached an agreement, but La Liga rules scuppered their plans, resulting in Messi leaving the club.
This rarity was one of the very few times Romano has been found to be in the wrong with a piece of news.
How does Fabrizio Romano get his transfer news?
Sourcing for transfer news is something Romano learned from his time working with Di Marzio. According to him, he learned the importance of creating a relationship with agents, intermediaries, and club officials. The combination of these groups of people helps to provide a clear direction for transfer news and updates.
For someone like him, he has to work round the clock during transfer windows in order to compensate for the time difference and also to remain on top of situations as they arise.
Fabrizio Romano gets his transfer news directly from the source by meeting with clubs’ executives, establishing contact with players’ agents and representatives, and piecing bits of information together.
He moves around in search of these executives in order to get some inside information on transfers, and also puts calls through to agents for insightful information.
Romano only gives preference to deals that are reliable and focuses on such, following them every step of the way until he receives confirmation of the final details.
Romano has an interesting way of working, as he revealed that he has a calendar in which he lists out all the sources with whom he works. Then, during the festive holidays, he contacts each of them to inquire about their well-being and general lives.
This action helps him to build a strong bond with these sources, and their relationship begins to transcend the normal reporter-source relationship and moves closer to a more familiar type.
The renowned journalist is very versatile as he conveniently speaks English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, allowing him to communicate with a wide range of footballers’ agents.
Conclusion
Fabrizio Romano is a well-known figure in reporting football transfer news, having proven himself to be reliable on several occasions. In addition, he is responsible for providing updates on player contracts and contract renewals.
Because of his meticulous attention to detail and ability to calmly analyze material presented to him, the Italian journalist is considered to be one of the most dependable in the business.
You can check out how reliable other reporters like Gerard Romero are, as well as news outlets in general.
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