Fabrizio Romano forced to deny role in huge Barcelona transfer – ‘I just did my job’

Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has denied that he had a role in Barcelona signing Joao Felix this summer after interviewing the star, as he stated “it’s about Joao, not me”.

The transfer window in the modern day is not what it once was. While sides would have had no clue if a player wanted to join them until they’d got in contact with their club or representatives once upon a time, that’s not always the case now.

Players’ activity on social media means clubs can get an inkling that they’re interested in a move.

Moises Caicedo was a famous example from just last season. The Brighton midfielder, having caught wind of an Arsenal approach, essentially begged the Seagulls to let him go, which no doubt ensured the Gunners would go harder for the deal.

As it was, he didn’t manage to make the move, and a few months later went to Chelsea instead.

This summer, Atletico Madrid man Felix announced in an interview with Romano that he’d “love to join Barcelona” as the move was his “biggest dream”.

A little over a month later, the forward had made the loan switch to Camp Nou.

Having been asked about his involvement, Romano has since denied that he played a role in the move.

Romano denies involvement in move

“Absolutely zero role honestly and I don’t want any role into transfers,” he told the Daily Briefing.

Romano suggested he simply did his job, and it was Felix’s desire to make the move to Barcelona that made it happen, and the club would have been made aware of that desire anyway.

“I just did my job, getting an interview with Joao was a nice scoop but the deals depend on players, agents, clubs and not journalists in my opinion,” Romano added.

“If it wasn’t me, it was probably another newspaper or journalist to get that interview. If Joao got the move to Barca is because he wanted that strongly, he sent clear message and it’s about Joao, not me.”

Barcelona didn’t have to sign Felix

Romano obviously has a big audience, and that may help news spread to the right places quickly. As such, Barcelona might have been made aware that Felix wanted to join because of his interview.

However, the La Liga giants didn’t have to sign him.

They could have learned that he wanted to join and done nothing about it if they didn’t want him.

However, they clearly did want him, as they wouldn’t have signed him otherwise.

As such, whether or not Romano did play some role, it was the club and the player that made the move happen, rather than the interview itself.

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