The business of football transfers can often be a brutal, ruthless and cutthroat affair.
Huge sums of money are banded around, reputations can often be on the line, and careers can be permanently shaped, for better or for worse, in a single window.
And it would now appear that the business of transfer journalism is going the same way, following a social media spat between two of the industry’s leading ITK figures.
Romano and Plenttenberg clash on social media
In recent years, transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has amassed a huge social media following for his tireless output on transfers and football news, with Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg also making a name for himself as another of football’s most high-profile ITKs.
Transfer journalism has become something of a major cottage industry in recent times, and the race to be first to break a huge exclusive is a highly competitive field, so for those journalists in the trenches, tensions can be high – and occasionally, they can reach a fever pitch.
🚨⏳ And one more quick note on Yan Diomande saga, because more and more things in this business are becoming a bit ridiculous: If there had already been a full agreement between RB Leipzig and Real Madrid, it would be possible to report the exact transfer fee, wouldn’t it?… pic.twitter.com/GmGI2ERfQ4July 26, 2026
This is exactly what happened on Sunday evening, when Plettenberg took umbrage of the reporting over Ivory Coast star Yan Diomande’s rumoured transfer to Real Madrid, a story that Romano has been covering heavily.
Doing his best Colombo impression, Plettenberg remarked on X that: “And one more quick note on Yan Diomande saga, because more and more things in this business are becoming a bit ridiculous:
“If there had already been a full agreement between RB Leipzig and Real Madrid, it would be possible to report the exact transfer fee, wouldn’t it? The fact is: there still isn’t one. That continues to be confirmed by RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and the player’s camp. If a €100 million bid has been rejected, then it’s pretty obvious the final fee will be well over €100 million, isn’t it?”
This post was set upon by X user @Blue_Footy, who poked the bear when he asked “Despite Fabrizio’s Here We Go?”, sparking an instant response from the Italian, who posted:
“Don’t worry, Diomande goes to Real Madrid as Klopp went to Germany. Ask about the fake news yesterday on Man City bidding €100m for Diomande when they’ve been out for days, and when Madrid were already advancing. They are good at talking about others (not even that good, they can’t even tag me) but… check your own news first, then talk about me.”
you start accusing, I cross the line. Now at least I see you’ve learned how to tag 😂 very good. Maybe I should share messages from few years ago where you asked me “how can I increase followers” or “your job is my motivation”… you who are now teaching how to do this job on…July 26, 2026
Plettenberg then warned Romano he had ‘crossed a line’ by accusing him of ‘fake news’ and went on to take down Romano’s reporting of Germany’s Jurgen Klopp appointment, which he called ‘simply disrespectful to every journalist who actually does proper reporting’.
More old grudges were brought up between the pair, with Romano suggesting he may share historical personal messages from Plettenberg, who asked how to increase followers, before the latter moved to end the argument:
“Everyone should ask themselves on what basis they report agreements, agreements in principle, done deals or “here we go’s”. Yan Diomande will join Real Madrid. DONE DEAL soon. Good night,” he posted.
That put a lid on the two transfer news big beasts’ argument for now, but with another five weeks of the transfer window left to run, don’t be surprised if we see some more barbs in the run-up to deadline day.