With the summer transfer window in full swing, football fans and observers across the globe are usually keen to see the incoming and outgoing transfers at some of Europe’s biggest teams.
Manchester United is a fine example, as the club is hugely popular across the globe.
The completion of Jadon Sancho’s move to the club for a reported 73 million pounds marked the end of a topsy-turvy saga that spanned a good part of the last 2 years.
Dortmund played hard ball with United for a long while before this move came to its conclusion, and that came with loads of media coverage pertaining to whether Sancho would or wouldn’t move back to England.
More so, plenty of players get linked to this prestigious team and so I thought I’d make things easier for people to distinguish the facts from the rumours.
Therefore without further ado, here’s the Manchester United transfer reliability guide – up to date for the year of 2021.
Manchester United transfer tier of reliability
Name | Media Outlet / Country | Tier Ranking | Reliability Rating |
---|---|---|---|
Official Club Source | www.manutd.com | Tier 0 | |
Simon Stone | BBC Sport | Tier 1 | |
Simon Peach | Press Association | Tier 1 | |
Henry Winter | The Times - Chief of Football | Tier 1 | |
Mohamed Bouhafsi | France | Tier 1 | |
Fabrizio Romano | Italy | Tier 1 | |
Paul Joyce | The Times | Tier 1 | |
Craig Norwood - Photographer | - | Tier 1 | |
James Cooper | - | Tier 1 | |
Kristof Terreur | The Guardian | Tier 1 | |
Sam Lee | The Athletic | Tier 1 | |
James Ducker | The Telegraph | Tier 1 | |
John Percy | The Telegraph | Tier 1 | |
David Ornstein | The Athletic | Tier 1 | |
Gerard Romero | Esports RAC1 | Tier 1 | |
BBC Sport | United Kingdom | Tier 1 | |
Arancha Rodriguez | Spain | Tier 1 | |
Alan Nixon | For youth and league club news | Tier 1 | |
Raphael Honigstein | Guardian German News / Freelancer | Tier 2 | |
Matt Law | The Telegraph | Tier 2 | |
Andy Burton | Sky Sports | Tier 2 | |
Lee Ryder | The Chronicle | Tier 2 | |
MoisESPN | Spain & South America | Tier 2 | |
Charlotte Duncker | Goal.com | Tier 2 | |
Jason Burt | The Telegraph | Tier 2 | |
Sebastian Giovanelli | Uruguay | Tier 2 | |
Gianluca Di Marzio | Italians only | Tier 2 | |
Ruhr Nachrichten | Borussia Dortmund news | Tier 2 | |
Paul Hirst | The Times | Tier 2 | |
Mike McGrath | The Telegraph | Tier 2 | |
The Telegraph | United Kingdom | Tier 2 | |
Sport1 | Germany | Tier 2 | |
BILD | Germany | Tier 2 | |
COPE | Spain | Tier 2 | |
Der Westen | Germany | Tier 2 | |
Kicker | Germany | Tier 2 | |
De Telegraaf | Netherlands | Tier 2 | |
Voetbal International | Netherlands | Tier 2 | |
Caderna SER | Spain | Tier 2 | |
RMC Sport | France | Tier 2 | |
Telefoot | France | Tier 2 | |
Jamie Jackson | The Guardian | Tier 3 | |
Christian Falk | BILD | Tier 3 | |
Jan Aage Fjortoft | Twitter: @JanAageFjortoft | Tier 3 | |
Constantin Eckner | Twitter: @cc_eckner | Tier 3 | |
Ian Ladyman | Daily Mail | Tier 3 | |
Mark Ogden | ESPN | Tier 3 | |
Daniel Taylor | The Athletic | Tier 3 | |
Ian Herbert | Independent | Tier 3 | |
Jim White (Everton Only) | Sky Sports | Tier 3 | |
Rob Dawson | ESPN | Tier 3 | |
Lawrie Whitwell | The Athletic | Tier 3 | |
Adrian Kajumba | Daily Mail | Tier 3 | |
Dan Harris | The Guardian | Tier 3 | |
Fredrik A. Filtvedt / James Savundra | TalkSPORT | Tier 3 | |
Julien Maynard | Telefoot | Tier 3 | |
Alfredo Pedulla | Italy | Tier 3 | |
Mike Keegan | Daily Mail | Tier 3 | |
The Guardian | United Kingdom | Tier 3 | |
The Times | United Kingdom | Tier 3 | |
Canal+ | France | Tier 3 | |
BILD | Germany | Tier 3 | |
Le Parisien | France | Tier 3 | |
O Jogo | Portugal | Tier 3 | |
RTP | Portugal | Tier 3 | |
Guillem Balague | Sky Sports / Freelance | Tier 4 | |
Stuart Mathieson | Manchester Evening News | Tier 4 | |
Kaveh Solhekol | Sky Sports | Tier 4 | |
Dharmesh Seth | Sky Sports | Tier 4 | |
Pietro Balzano Prota (Tier 1 for AC Milan) | Radio Rossonera | Tier 4 | |
Paris / Euro United | France / PSG | Tier 4 | |
Duncan Castles | Record / Times | Tier 4 | |
Sam Pilger | - | Tier 4 | |
David Amoyal | Gianluca Di Marzio | Tier 4 | |
James Robson | Evening Standard | Tier 4 | |
London Evening Standard | United Kingdom | Tier 4 | |
Daily Mail | United Kingdom | Tier 4 | |
The Independent | United Kingdom | Tier 4 | |
TalkSPORT | UK & Ireland | Tier 4 | |
Correio de Manha | Portugal | Tier 4 | |
A Bola | Portugal | Tier 4 | |
Record | Portugal | Tier 4 | |
Tuttosport | Italy | Tier 4 | |
Tuttomercatoweb | Italy | Tier 4 | |
CalcioMercato | Italy | Tier 4 | |
L'Equipe | France | Tier 4 | |
Goal.com | United Kingdom | Tier 4 | |
Mundo Deportivo | Spain | Tier 4 | |
BILD Sport | Germany | Tier 4 | |
Sport | Spain | Tier 4 | |
MARCA | Spain | Tier 4 | |
El Chiringuito | Spain | Tier 4 | |
Paris United | France & PSG news | Tier 4 | |
AS | Spain | Tier 4 | |
Metro | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Sky Sports | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
The Athletic | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
The Mirror | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
The Express | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
The Sun | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Diario Gol | Spain | Tier 5 | |
Manchester Evening News | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Get French Football News | France | Tier 5 | |
Bleacher Report | USA | Tier 5 | |
90min.com | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Sport Witness | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Squawka | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Here Is The City | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Peter O'Rouke | Freelancer | Tier 5 | |
Tancredi Palmieri | Freelance | Tier 5 | |
Samuel Luckhurst | Manchester Evening News | Tier 5 | |
Simon Mullock | The Mirror | Tier 5 | |
Miguel Delaney | The Independent | Tier 5 | |
Mark Goldbridge | The United Stand | Tier 5 | |
Caught Offside | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Daily Star | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
Sport / Lad Bible | United Kingdom | Tier 5 | |
IndyKaila | Tier 5 | ||
Jack Otway | Express | Tier 5 |
Is Duncan Castles tier 1?
According to the tier list above, Duncan Castles is listed as a tier 4 source.
So it’s safe to say that he’s far from being considered in the tier 1 category.
However, during Jose Mourinho’s spell at the club, Mr. Castles had a bit of an inside scoop when it came to behind-the-scenes matters.
This was particularly due to his closeness with Jorge Mendes and the latter’s associated clients – which included Jose Mourinho himself.
Therefore, a distinction can be made when it comes to Duncan Castles reporting on transfer news to do with Jorge Mendes clients. In such scenarios, he’s usually bumped up to tier 2.
Is James Cooper reliable?
Previously a tier 2 source, Cooper has been bumped up to tier 1 status as a result of his reliable transfer coverage over the last couple of months.
Although he no longer works for Sky Sports News anymore, he was a senior reporter with established connections at the club.
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