Since Social Media has gained even more popularity and become something that everyone uses, football leaks have been getting even more traction and you could go onto Twitter (or X) right now and see leaked information about clubs. Data leaks have been happening often in clubs, with Man United having one not too long ago, but less damaging information comes out about transfers and training regimes that get people, including myself, wondering how this information comes out. Is it damaging for the club and the potential transfers?
How Do Transfers Work?
When you look at it plainly and simply, a transfer is when a player moves from one club to another club, usually for a monetary fee. Games like FIFA have given footballs a misconception with transfers. The manager won’t meet the player or their representatives for the deal in case it falls through. Usually, the two clubs involved in the deal will send two representatives to talk to each other and one club will tell the other club that they are interested in said player and it will move from there.
If a deal is agreed between the two clubs, the player gets permission to discuss the personal terms with the club, usually, his agent will tell the club what he wants and if the club agree then they sign the contract and sign the player. After the contract has been signed, the player will meet their new manager. The first talk is usually about the styles of play and the role they are being bought for.
How Do Things Get leaked?
The rumour mill has been something that has been around for decades, even before social media, a player’s frustrations or a transfer will be leaked by Newspapers or even word of mouth and this is what makes football so much, the speculation. However, now when things get leaked people can even look at the football odds to see if it is likely to happen, the leaks feel like they have taken out the fun of the sport at times and usually, the shock of a signing or a manager getting sacked makes it more fun instead of the rumours being spread weeks in advance.
Usually, a player’s anger or desire to leave will be leaked by agents, which is seen as a break of trust but it still happens a lot. Why they do it is a different question though and some examples can be seen anytime. With the new leakers like Fabrizio Romano, some agents are accused of paying these leakers to get other clubs looking at who is available. Every transfer window, Fabrizio will talk about specific players and their wanting to leave to get some clubs interested in them. These are the types of leaks that people don’t mind, however, when a player’s personal information with the club is being leaked this is when people don’t like it.
How The Leaks Have Changed Football
When a transfer is leaked some clubs will up the price of their players because they know that a few clubs are interested, it is a known fact that clubs will leak the information on purpose so they can get more interest in their players and this is where football has changed, it feels like now journalists are used as intermediaries and probably get a cut from agents or the players themselves after deals are struck. A footballer who plays for Lille named Jonathan Bamba is a lead culprit in using journalists to get a move. There are also older players like Koulibaly who tried to leave Napoli for many years and was one of the first to use the journalists for their benefit. There are still a lot of cases where players have arguments or fallings out with their managers and the information gets leaked. A recent example of information being leaked was the decision for Erik Ten Hag to be sacked, this came out before the FA Cup Final and the timing seemed to be on purpose before a big game.
