Source Analysis - Daily Mail

Verdict - Tier 5 overall, Tier 2/3 for specific reporters

Transfer Track Source Analysis · July 24, 2024

The Daily Mail is a British tabloid that covers various popular culture “news” stories, such as sports, celebrity gossip, and sensationalized news stories. Its tendency to prioritize eye-catching headlines and entertainment value over factual accuracy often leads to the dissemination of misleading or exaggerated information.

As for transfer news and rumors, the Daily Mail is typically complete and utter clickbait, fabricating links between players and clubs in order to build more engagement, without any relation to the truth. At Transfer Track, we rate the Daily Mail as a Tier 5 source, and thus do not include its “news” on our site.

However, some of the journalists who work for the Daily Mail have proven themselves to be more reliable than the publication as a whole. In this article, we will cover a few of these journalists, and explain the reasons as to why they are considered to be more reliable.

Sami Mokbel

After having graduated from the University of East London with a master’s degree in communication, Sami Mokbel became the Chief Football Reporter for the Daily Mail, a position that he has held for the past twelve years. During this time, Mokbel has earned a reputation as a reliable journalist when it comes to reporting on news relating to Premier League clubs.

For example, last summer, Mokbel reported that Declan Rice was not interested in a move to Bayern Munich, and instead was interested in a move to Arsenal, as well as Arsenal’s surprise transfer for out-of-favor Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz. Some of his reporting, however, often does not come to fruition, like when he claimed that Chelsea was in for United center-back Harry Maguire or that Arsenal was close to signing Moises Caicedo back in January 2023.

Because of his record of relative reliability, we consider Mokbel to be a Tier 2 source overall, as he largely reports reliable information, although many of his links between players and clubs often fail to pan out.

Chris Wheeler

Chris Wheeler is the Manchester correspondent for the Daily Mail, largely reporting on Premier League giants Manchester United. He has a decent track record when it comes to reporting on transfer news relating to Manchester United, although he does appear to have a bias towards United’s side of the story. This window, he reported accurately on Olympique Marseille’s bid for out-of-favor forward Mason Greenwood and United’s bid for young French center-back Leny Yoro, although he did exaggerate Everton center-back Jarrad Branthwaite’s interest in joining United. Owing to this decent track record, we rank him as a Tier 3 source with regards to United transfer news and rumors.

Craig Hope

Craig Hope is the North East correspondent for the Daily Mail, focusing primarily on covering the Wear-Tyne rivals Newcastle United and AFC Sunderland. He is considered to be Tier 2/3 for Newcastle United for his accurate reporting on the acquisition of the club by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund the signing of coach Eddie Howe, and the signing of Sandro Tonali from Serie A club AC Milan. However, in his most recent transfer story, he reported that Newcastle was interested in signing Fulham center-back Tosin Adariobayo on a free transfer, though he ended up moving to Chelsea FC on a free transfer.