It’s a time of peace in the footballing world. The Colosseums are shut and the Gladiators are resting before the massive theatre of football comes to life again. But despite the lack of entertainment, the Twitterverse has found a new way to amuse themselves. This time they are not comparing the strengths and weaknesses of these herculean footballers, but of those who blow the trumpet of their arrival.
The two most prolific journalists, Fabrizio Romano of ‘Here we go’ fame and David Ornstein of Athletic UK, have been pitted against each other by the users, and there seems to be a certain liking towards the latter. Surprised?
Ornstein is an English man who formerly worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for 12 years before making his way to the Athletic as a football correspondent. His Twitter is filled with posts about opinion pieces, speculations, and most importantly, transfer news which Ornstein has given a little twist to.
After confirming with carefully curated resources over the years in the business, Ornstein begins the tweet of transfer news with a ‘Police car revolving light’ emoji to announce the news of a player’s arrival or departure from any particular club. His tweets are detail-oriented, clear, and precisely to the minute detail of the news that he has received from his sources.
And in the current transfer window, Ornstein has emerged as a clear winner of breaking and confirming the transfer news before Fabrizio.
The Italian journalist who gained fame and credibility for breaking the Paul Pogba transfer news from Juventus to Manchester United is second to none. Still, the fans have noted that Fabrizio’s source for most of the transfer news in this transfer window is none other than Ornstein.
This has sparked a debate about who is the G.O.A.T of breaking the transfer news.
It is without a shred of doubt that Fabrizio takes his sweet time to announce without rushing in to be the first, but Ornstein’s credibility in the realms of English football has given him a slight edge.
Ornstein is slowly emerging as a silent watcher, the man behind the curtains who goes about his job so meticulously that he ignores the fame that comes with it or doesn’t heed much attention to it. While Fabrizio, with his immaculate flair and cheeky wordplay, gets the fans behind him and leaves them wanting more.
The Athletic UK journalist has also gained huge shoutouts from Arsenal fans for always breaking in with crystal clear news for them. Recently, Ornstein also beat Fabrizio by announcing Gabriel Jesus’ arrival at the Emirates Stadium sooner and this is by no means the first instance.
In the past, when Fabrizio was busy figuring out United’s stance on Paul Pogba and had doubts about Sergio Reguilon’s transfer, Ornstein confirmed Reguilon was on his way to Tottenham Hotspur from Real Madrid. The saga continues to date as Ornstein also announced Aurelien Tchouameni’s signing with Real Madrid before Fabrizio confirmed it.
Even though Fabrizio’s ‘Here we go’ has gained traction over the years but one must realize that Ornstein has been doing this for over 12 years, before even Fabrizio thought of coining the term, ‘Here we go.’
When it comes to breaking the transfer news about the Premier League, there is no one close to Ornstein, but the European Colosseum sings praises of Fabrizio’s work.
But the veil is slowly eroding and the fans are witnessing a clearer picture. They realize that Ornstein doesn’t receive enough plaudits as Fabrizio, despite doing the heavy lifting. For them, Ornstein is a master of whispers while Fabrizio, who has now established himself as a brand ambassador for transfer news, comes across as relaxed and reliant on Ornstein’s well-founded resources.
It’s Messi vs Ronaldo all over again, but in the area of the transfer market and a fan who has been critically analyzing the tweets of the two journalists lately mentioned something delightful in the comments.
He said, ‘That Ornstein (Messi) has been dribbling through the entire team for Fabrizio (Ronaldo) to tap in.’ As of now, it’s hard to contest such a notion.
