Last updated on July 2nd, 2022
During the transfer window, you may be receiving updates from various news outlets regarding player transfers in football.
However, there are so many different sources to look at, so which ones are reliable, and which ones should you steer clear of?
We’ve broken down the different outlets based on their past records, and here’s what you need to know:
Classes of news outlets
There are different classes of news outlets based on how reliable they have proven themselves to be over the years.
Various news outlets have been classified into five tiers according to how reliable they are with their transfer reports:
| Tier | Definition |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 (Very Reliable) | Most reliable and never gets a transfer story wrong |
| Tier 2 (Reliable) | Very reliable but with the occasional miss |
| Tier 3 (Slightly Reliable) | Reliable but reports some unsubstantiated news |
| Tier 4 (Not Reliable) | Mostly reports unsubstantiated news |
| Tier 5 (Best to ignore) | Reports are almost always wrong |
Here are the different news outlets that are categorised based on their tiers:
| Tier | News Outlets |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 (Very Reliable) | BBC, The Guardian |
| Tier 2 (Reliable) | The Athletic, Kicker, Sky Sports |
| Tier 3 (Slightly Reliable) | Talksport, The Times, L’Equipe, La Gazzetta dello Sport, La Repubblica |
| Tier 4 (Not Reliable) | Marca, Mundo Deportivo, Goal.com, Tuttosport, Le Parisien |
| Tier 5 (Best to ignore) | The Sun, Mirror, Metro, Daily Mail, Bleacher Report |
General
The Athletic
The Athletic is an American online news outlet that began operations in 2016. It mostly reports American sports such as the NBA, MLB, NFL, and the likes.
However, after the company recognised the growing love for football among American nationals and beyond the country, European football reporting made it popular beyond the USA.
The subscription-based website employs some of the best reporters from the UK and USA to report on football transfers.
Through its contacts, these reporters are usually able to deliver mostly accurate transfer information because they tend to tread cautiously in the market. The Athletic mostly talks about confirmed transfers and tries very much to minimise talking about rumours.
Some Twitter fan accounts have quoted their sources as well.
However, there are still some times that The Athletic still gets their information wrong.
Goal.com
Goal.com is an international football news website based in London but with reporters all over the world. It was founded in 2004 and is currently available in 19 languages worldwide.
Goal.com is seen as an unreliable transfer news outlet because of its propensity for sensationalism in its news reports.
Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report is a San Francisco-based sports website that was founded in 2005. It has since expanded to have branches in New York and London.
Bleacher Report hardly reports transfers on their own, preferring to delve into other aspects of football.
England
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, as the name entails, primarily reports transfers that concern English/British clubs. It is a British news outlet that is generally very reliable at giving accurate reports concerning transfer dealings of clubs in the United Kingdom.
However, BBC occasionally reports transfers involving foreign clubs when players of importance are involved.
The sports outlet began operation in 1988 and is indeed a very reliable source of transfer information due to its extensive network of reporters.
Some of these reporters are ex-players with relationships with some agents of current players.
Nevertheless, BBC may still get some rumours wrong.
The Guardian
The Guardian, like BBC, is a British news outlet that used to be called the Manchester Guardian before its name was changed in 1959 to The Guardian.
Originally a daily newspaper, the Guardian has developed an online presence since the boom in the number of internet users worldwide.
For transfers involving clubs in Britain or British players, The Guardian is a very reliable outlet that can be trusted to give accurate reports.
Among tabloids, it is by far the most reliable source of transfer information.
Some reports are still slightly unreliable though.
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is primarily a group of channels available for viewing on a subscription basis in the UK and Ireland.
Sky Sports is the biggest and most popular subscription-based television brand in the UK where it is based.
It commenced operation in 1990 and has grown over the years into a real powerhouse for news reportage on television.
Like the BBC, Sky Sports is based mostly in the UK and reports transfer dealings involving clubs in the UK.
However, there are occasions where foreign transfer deals are reported because of their importance.
Overall, Sky Sports is quite reliable when it comes to reporting transfer news as it normally has reporters at clubs to monitor deals as they happen in the transfer window.
However, there are times when the news that they report may not be that reliable in the end.
The Times
The Times is a London-based daily newspaper that began operations in 1785 in the UK.
It is published on a daily basis to date and can be classified as a reliable news outlet, depending on the reporters involved in reporting the transfers.
Some reporters who work with the newspaper have reputations for being reliable, but others, not so much. This is because their reports are mainly centred around British clubs’ transfers.
talkSPORT
Based in the UK, talkSPORT is the global audio partner to the English Premier League. It is a sports radio station that began operations fully in 2000.
Being a UK-based media outlet, talkSPORT majorly focuses on happenings and transfer deals in the UK.
The outlet is a Tier 3 one when it comes to reporting transfer dealings because it depends on scoops and rumours floated by other outlets, some of which may be wide off the mark.
The Sun
The Sun is a daily newspaper based in the UK that commenced operations in 1964. The Sun is very unreliable with transfer news and is best ignored when it comes to transfer reports.
Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British daily newspaper that was founded in 1903 and is mostly involved in reporting transfer deals in the UK. However, the Mirror is a very unreliable transfer news outlet.
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily newspaper and online news outlet. It was founded in 1896 and is the highest-circulated daily newspaper in the UK. However, the Daily Mail is unreliable in transfer-related deals.
Metro
Metro is a British daily newspaper that started operations in 1999. However, Metro is known to be unreliable in reporting transfers.
Germany
Kicker
Kicker is the leading sports magazine in Germany and focuses mainly on football reporting. The magazine is published twice weekly in Germany and has been published since 1920. Being a leading sports magazine in Germany, Kicker focuses mostly on German football and events around it.
Like The Telegraph does in the UK, Kicker reports German clubs’ transfer dealings primarily, with other European transfers included minimally. Kicker is a reliable source for transfers in Germany, but they often miss transfers from other countries.
France
L’Equipe
French newspaper L’Equipe began operations in 1946 as a sports newspaper. It is published on a daily basis in France and is one of the best-known sports newspapers in the country.
L’Equipe busies itself with transfer news coming out of France as well as some other parts of Europe.
However, the outlet is not trustworthy with news from outside the French league as the facts and figures surrounding transfers usually turn out to be wrong.
L’Equipe also issues the Ballon d’Or award, which you can find out more about here.
Le Parisien
Le Parisien is a French daily newspaper based in Paris which delivers news reports in France and internationally. It was launched in 1944 and has since developed an online presence.
Unfortunately, Le Parisien is unreliable with transfer news, as has been proven over time.
Italy
La Gazzetta dello Sport
La Gazzetta dello Sport is the most widely read newspaper of any kind in Italy, where it originates from. The newspaper was first published in 1896 and has become quite football-oriented.
The newspaper reports on Italian transfers and business involving Italian clubs. Despite being the most read newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport is one which has been tainted by sensationalism which extends to its transfer reporting.
In addition, figures are usually inaccurate where they get the clubs involved right. The newspaper is not very reliable in reporting transfers in Italy and outside the country.
La Repubblica
La Repubblica is an Italian daily newspaper that was launched in Rome in 1976. The newspaper has a sports segment which features news and updates from the Italian football scene, with several reporters from around the country among the contributors to the segment.
They are one of the reliable sources of transfer information in Italy, but sometimes provide wrong information.
Tuttosport
Italian newspaper Tuttosport has been exclusively published in Italy since 1945. The newspaper is based in Turin and is responsible for the Golden Boy award, which it gives out every year.
However, outside of Turin, where it is published, Tuttosport is seen as an unreliable source of transfer information.
Spain
Marca
Marca is a daily sports newspaper based in Spain that reports mainly on football matters involving Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. It was founded in 1938 and is the most widely-read daily newspaper in the country.
As a result, the newspaper is a reliable source for transfer information involving the Madrid clubs.
However, for other transfers around Europe, Marca is not reliable with inflated figures and unconfirmed rumours, hence its classification as a Tier 4 outlet.
Mundo Deportivo
Mundo Deportivo is to Barcelona what Marca is to Madrid. Since its first edition was published in 1906, Mundo Deportivo has continued to churn out newspapers in Barcelona.
It is the oldest newspaper in Spain and is the primary source of information about FC Barcelona.
However, its transfer reports are usually unreliable due to unfounded rumours that are often floated.
Conclusion
Different news outlets may report conflicting transfer news, and it will be best to look at the more reliable ones!
You can find out more about some interesting things about football transfers in this article here.
Apart from news outlets, you can check out how reliable reporters like Fabrizio Romano and Gerard Romero are.
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