Let's start with the story of journalist Jem Bartholomew in the Columbia Journalism Review when he met Fabrizio Romano. The first thing that journalist Bartholomew said about Romano was that he always seemed to outstrip traditional news organizations in the amount of breaking news on the football transfer market in recent years.
And according to Bartholomew, it’s not a gift that falls from the sky. It’s the result of Romano’s tireless work ethic and passion for football, especially when the transfer window starts ringing every summer. Romano’s daily YouTube videos have millions of views, but his eye bags have also grown bigger from staying up late. He says that even when he falls asleep late and hastily, he dreams that he’s missed some transfer news. And that dream often wakes him up.
“Go out and meet people”
Over the past 10 years, the global football transfer market has exploded from $2.66 billion in 2012 to $6.5 billion in 2022. More than $4 billion of that was spent on just 276 of the 20,209 transfers. And as transfer deadline day approaches, the only thing faster than transfer rumours is the fan demand for them.
“ Someone said to me a long time ago, I like transfer news, please write transfer news every day and I don’t care if it’s right or wrong!” - Christian Falk, head of football at German news agency Bild, once said. Football fans always want a lot of news about player transfers, fast.
Romano, just 30 years old, is now arguably the most famous journalist in the world of football, if not the most famous journalist in the world. He has over 18 million followers on Twitter, the same as the world’s two hottest football superstars combined, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano is the leading source of hot and accurate transfer news in the football world, even more than many major sports news agencies. Photo: WIKI
His catchphrase when a deal is done is “HERE WE GO!”, which has become part of the global language of football. Romano has been called “the pop star of the internet age”, “the king of transfer gossip” and, in the words of one super agent, “the boy who seems to know everything”.
Romano, who was not affiliated with any newspaper, consistently outpaced traditional news organizations in the number of scoops he got. Where others were reporting falsehoods, Romano's were almost always accurate. He did it by applying very old-fashioned reporting techniques and building a reputation for accuracy, speed, and reliability that many other news reporters could only dream of.
Romano was born in February 1993 and grew up in Naples. His father, Luigi, instilled in him a love of football. At the age of 16, he decided to become a football journalist. In 2010, Romano wrote his first article for Tutto Mercato Web, a transfer gossip site. Soon after, someone called him out of the blue to ask if he would cover the transfer of young Argentine striker Mauro Icardi from Barcelona to Sampdoria. At the time, Icardi was just an unknown talent, not the superstar he would become. But it was Romano's first big story and he was hooked.
At 18, Romano moved to Milan to study at university. But he soon discovered his passion for football transfers. He went to work for Gianluca Di Marzio, a reporter for Sky. “For me, that opportunity at Sky was like going to journalism university,” Romano said, adding that it was important, for any reporter, to build a network of trusted contacts. “And I had an editor who would say, ‘I don’t want to see you in the office. Go out. Meet people. Go play golf.’”
Romano said he worked 20 hours a day, wandering the streets of Milan, trying to meet the negotiators and players' representatives who often congregated in five-star hotels like the Palazzo Parigi or the Excelsior Gallia. It was an investment most journalists wouldn't dare make.
“I don't sell rumors, I sell dreams”
Romano’s work and close relationships with sources began to pay off. In 2013, his relationship with Icardi, who was already a star at the time, helped him learn that the Argentine was moving from Sampdoria to Inter Milan. Romano broke the news, another big scoop. Romano was only 20 years old at the time!
During the transfer window, Romano sleeps for almost five hours a day, from 5am to 10am. His online appearances often exceed 15 hours. Last year, he broke the news that Spanish defender Marc Cucurella was moving from Brighton to Chelsea for $70 million. Brighton tweeted to deny the news, which led to two days of vicious online attacks on Romano until the transfer was finally... confirmed!
Of course, Romano would not reveal his sources. But when doing this job, he certainly had informants at airports, taxi stands, hotels, restaurants, etc.
Notably, it was Romano himself, not a sports news outlet, who first announced Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United from Juventus in August 2021. Romano went live on Twitch after receiving the exclusive news, signaling that the wily freelance journalist from Naples had become the “king of the transfer jungle.”
Journalist Romano was the first source to announce Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Man United from Juventus in 2021. Photo: Twitter/Romano
Romano described the thrill of breaking exclusive information as “scoring a goal in the Champions League final,” but he always prioritized accuracy. “Being first is not an obsession,” he said. “My obsession is respecting my sources. For people in the industry, my top priority is accuracy.”
Trying to build trust meant Romano sometimes missed stories he said he knew about, like Haaland signing for Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund, and 2022 World Cup-winning Argentine defender Nicolás Tagliafico moving to Lyon from Ajax. “I prefer to wait,” he said.
Romano isn't selling gossip or information. He's selling dreams in the world of football transfers. And in the world of journalism, Romano is proof that every journalist - independent or part of a news organization - can be a useful, engaging and trustworthy source of information in today's noisy world.
Hoang Viet
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