Source Analysis - In-the-know sources (ITKs)

Verdict - Tier 4/5

Transfer Track News · July 28, 2024

In many online circles and communities focused on football news and transfer rumors, certain anonymous accounts and sources are labeled as "in-the-know sources," often abbreviated as "ITKs." These ITKs market themselves as "inside sources" that can break transfer news before more reliable and established reporters.

However, we do not consider these ITKs reliable sources, typically placing them in Tiers 4 and 5 of our transfer tier rating scale. This article explains our reasoning behind this placement and provides examples to illustrate our point.

ITK accounts on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media platforms generally follow a similar life cycle: creation, expansion, and contraction. These accounts are usually created when the person behind them receives a tip or piece of information from someone close to a club, agent, or player. They publish this rumor online, and if it proves accurate, their popularity can grow rapidly. Sometimes, their inside source continues to provide additional rumors or information. They then use this popularity to monetize their engagement by creating a Patreon, subscription-based blog, or similar service to profit from their inside information.

However, when their inside source stops sharing information or shares it too infrequently to sustain engagement, these ITK sources often begin fabricating transfer stories to maintain their following and generate more clicks and subscriptions. To preserve some credibility, they typically make these predictions vague and unfalsifiable, reporting on "links" and "interest" that may fizzle out within weeks, or claiming that “big news is coming soon”, without any specifics as to what the “big news” is.

A notable example of an ITK source is the Twitter account "Team News and Tix" (TNAT), which covers Arsenal-related news. TNAT has proven accurate in confirming team sheets hours before official release and correctly predicted the Declan Rice transfer to Arsenal, insisting the player only wanted Arsenal, not Manchester City or Bayern Munich.

However, after the Rice saga concluded last year, TNAT began linking almost every notable player to Arsenal, despite a lack of corroborating evidence from other sources. In the past year, TNAT has linked Arsenal with selling Eddie Nketiah to Ipswich and signing Nico Williams, Victor Osimhen, Martin Zubimendi, a "mystery German player," and Mohamed Kudus. These unfounded rumors have made it harder for readers to discern the truth, leading us to demote TNAT to a Tier 4 rating.

Another example is "Ex-West Ham United Employee," thought to be a former academy coach at West Ham United. He occasionally reports accurate inside information, such as more precise numbers regarding Arsenal’s rumored bids for Declan Rice during the 2023 summer window. However, he attempts to monetize his content via his personal Patreon page and has recently reported much inaccurate information, linking Ben Johnson to Arsenal, Everton, and Ipswich Town; Reiss Nelson to West Ham; and Folarin Balogun to West Ham. He also tries to maintain credibility by making unfalsifiable claims, such as predicting "big news next week/month," which can be defended by claiming it "fell through" if nothing is confirmed.

Overall, at Transfer Track, we do not rate "in-the-know sources" (ITKs) highly, generally placing them in Tiers 4 or 5 due to their engagement-based reporting model, a worse version of that employed by Fabrizio Romano. They also often lack journalistic integrity and rely upon questionable "inside sources" for accurate information. Although they may sometimes be the first to report a particular transfer, their stories are often inaccurate, and it is best to take their reports with a big grain of salt.