About

About TransfersLens

Transfer news is full of stories repeated from one source, and of sources with very different track records. TransfersLens audits them. For every rumour it shows who reported it first, who only repeated it, how far the deal really got and how reliable each source has been before, so you can judge the story instead of counting how many sites carry it.

How it works

1.Trace the origin. For every article we record whether the outlet reported first-hand or repeated someone else, and who. A rumour repeated by four outlets that all cite one source counts as one source.
2.Check what is written. What a dossier says about the stage of a deal, a denial or a fee is checked against what the articles say. What cannot be backed up is left out.
3.Score and explain. Every dossier shows how its score was reached, line by line. The score estimates how much independent evidence exists. It is not a probability that the deal will happen.

The score (0–100) adds four parts: independent sources (up to 40), the track record of those sources (25), how far the deal has got (25) and how recent the latest report is (10), and it is cut when a source denies the move: by half if the source is Tier 1 or 2, by a quarter for Tier 3 and by a tenth for weaker ones (one step milder when the source only repeats another outlet). A denial that a later, dated report from another source overtakes stops counting, and stays visible on the dossier. A rumour later confirmed or dismissed stops being scored.

Records of outlets and journalists count only settled cases in which they were an origin of the reporting: copying another outlet earns neither credit nor blame, and interest that never materialised is not held against anyone. A percentage appears after 3 settled cases for an outlet and 5 for a journalist. Source tiers are an editorial judgement written down outlet by outlet, with the reason. These figures are estimates and can contain mistakes (see below).

Source tiers

Every outlet has a tier, an editorial judgement written down outlet by outlet with its reason. A tier says how much weight a source carries as evidence; the outlet's record on the stories we audited can move it.

Tier 1 · Primary. First-hand reporting from established reporters and official club, league or federation channels.
Tier 2 · Established. Major national or international sports media; generally reliable but sometimes relays others’ scoops.
Tier 3 · Secondary. Aggregators, fan-run news sites, apps and databases; good for coverage, weak as evidence alone.
Tier 4 · Speculative. Tabloid-style transfer talk, fan pages and social accounts with a pattern of unsourced claims.
Tier 5 · Unverifiable. The author or account cannot be identified, or the page is not a news source.

When a dossier is closed

A dossier stops being scored when the facts settle it.

Confirmed only when the player is already at the new club, or an established source (Tier 1 or 2) reports the agreement, or two different secondary outlets do. Speculative, unverifiable and unrated sources never confirm a move, the sentence that proves it must name the player and the club, and a credible denial blocks the confirmation.
Did not happen when the transfer window the rumour was about has closed and the player is not at the destination. Outlets that had it at negotiation or beyond count it as a miss, those that denied it count it as a hit, and plain interest is not held against anyone.
Not judged when the player had already joined that club before the rumour appeared (late news, not a prediction) or the move is between a club's own teams.

Who is behind it, and editorial responsibility

TransfersLens is run by an editor, who decides the rules every dossier follows and is responsible for everything published. When the evidence and a text disagree, the evidence wins.

Texts are in our own words, with short attributed quotations, and we link to every article we read. Ratings describe an outlet's record on the stories we audited, not its worth as a publication or a person. The score is not a probability, and data from public sources can be incomplete or late: where a fact cannot be verified, we say so instead of guessing.

Who runs this site

Tarek Rahmouni El Kharraz · Bda los Rosales N32 1B, 51002 Ceuta, Spain · contact form or [email protected]

Corrections

If something is wrong (a score, a stage, a date, a source, a quotation or a fact about a player or club), tell us on the contact page or at [email protected] with the address of the page and what you believe is wrong. We check it against the sources, confirm that we received your report and answer without undue delay (requests about personal data are answered within one month: see the privacy policy). When it is a real error we correct the rule or the check that let it through, not just the page, and the affected dossiers are looked at again; the dossier then shows its new date. A moved deal, a new report or a denial changes a dossier on its own: that is an update, not a correction.

What TransfersLens is not

It does not break transfer news. It audits what others report, and every claim links back to the outlet that made it.
It does not predict transfers. A high score means there is a lot of independent evidence, not that the deal will happen.
It does not copy articles. Texts are written in our own words, with short quotations that are always attributed.
It is not shaped by advertising. The site may carry advertising, sponsorships and affiliate links; anything paid is labelled as such and never changes a dossier, its evidence score or what we say about a source.

Found a mistake? See corrections or get in touch.