Glossary

Football transfer glossary

The words transfer news is written in, explained plainly, and how TransfersLens treats each one when it audits a rumour. The five stages come first because they are the scale every dossier is scored on. To check a specific story, see how to tell if a transfer rumour is true.

The five stages of a transfer

1.Interest: A club is said to like a player. No contact has been made, so nothing has to follow. It is the cheapest thing to report and the least informative.
2.Contact: The buying club, or an intermediary, has got in touch with the player, their agent or the selling club. A first conversation does not mean a deal is near.
3.Negotiation: Talks about a fee, a contract, or both are under way. This is the first stage at which a failed deal counts against the outlet that reported it in our records.
4.Offer: A formal bid has been made to the selling club, or a contract proposal to the player. The other side may accept, reject or counter it.
5.Agreement: The clubs, and usually the player, have agreed terms. What is left is the medical, the paperwork and the announcement. Even then a deal can still fail, which is why a confirmation needs more than a report of an agreement.

Terms

Here we go: A catchphrase used by some reporters to say a transfer is, in their judgement, certain. It is a claim by that reporter, not an announcement: we treat it as a strong report, not as a confirmation.
Medical: The health check a player passes before a transfer is completed. “Medical booked” or “medical scheduled” says the deal is advanced, but it is not complete until the contract is signed and the move announced.
Personal terms: The player’s contract: wages, length and bonuses. Clubs can agree a fee and still fail on personal terms, or the reverse.
Verbal agreement: An agreement reached in conversation but not yet signed. It is not binding, and it is usually reported as agreement-stage news.
Release clause: A fee written into a player’s contract. If a club pays it, the selling club cannot refuse to negotiate with the player, who is then free to accept or decline the move.
Option to buy: Part of a loan deal that lets the borrowing club sign the player permanently for a set fee, at their choice.
Obligation to buy: A loan in which the permanent signing becomes compulsory once conditions are met, such as a number of appearances. It is closer to a delayed purchase than to a loan.
Loan: A player joins another club for a fixed period and returns afterwards. A loan return is not a transfer, and we do not treat it as one.
Free agent: A player whose contract has ended and who can sign for any club without a transfer fee. In many leagues, a player in the last months of a contract can already agree a pre-contract with a foreign club.
Add-ons: Payments on top of the basic fee that depend on conditions such as appearances or trophies. A quoted “fee up to” figure usually includes them; the guaranteed part is lower.
Sell-on clause: A share of any future transfer fee that the selling club keeps if the player is later sold on.
Buy-back clause: A right for a former club to sign a player again at a fixed price.
Agent fee: The commission paid to the player’s representative. It is separate from the transfer fee and is often reported inside a single headline total.
Transfer window: The periods in which clubs may register new players. Most European leagues have a summer window and a shorter one in January; the exact dates differ by country.
Deadline day: The last day of a transfer window, when many deals are completed or fall through. Reports from that day change quickly and are often later corrected.
Work permit: The permission a player from abroad may need to play in some countries. A pending permit is a common reason a reported agreement is not announced.
Transfer fee: The amount a club pays another club for a player’s contract. Fees quoted by outlets differ with currency, add-ons and whether agent costs are included; we only show a fee that an outlet published for that move.
Original source: The outlet or journalist that first reported a story, as opposed to one that repeats or rewrites it. A rumour repeated by four outlets that all cite one source is one source, not four.