This is a really strong example of how football transfer rumours are the most prominent form of 'fake news'. Let's examine how a totally unverified social media account can post a dubious, unsubstantiated rumour to generate dozens of articles, including Chelsea's official site. https://twitter.com/footballespana_/status/1245332781955264520

Chelsea - like many other clubs - have a section of their site dedicated to transfer rumours about the club. The motive is simple: profit. They know that fans love transfer rumours. Good-news stories about their club. Even if they doubt them deep down. It's easy clicks.

This same motive and logic is applied to multiple sports media outlets. Easy clicks = more advertising and more profit. It's not original reporting or original work, just a rehash from somewhere else. So quality is diluted and payment for writers will subsequently be negligible.

That explains this entire sequence of events. Chelsea quote a report linking directly to the Mirror's website. Great traffic for them, great Google rankings. Again, more money. But the story isn't from the Mirror. Indeed, buried in their story is a link to El Mundo Deportivo.

This is a Catalan sports outlet focusing almost exclusively on Barcelona. They have loads of pages to fill and a website to be regularly stocked with content. This is multiplied during a period of no actual football. Transfer rumours make up more of their output than ever.

But click on their article and the story isn't originally their work either. Indeed, it says the entire story originates from 'Italian journalist Nicolò Schira'. But it's not a story written by Schira, it's from one tweet written on his Twitter account. So who is Schira?

Schira is a self-described 'expert in Transfermarkt', whatever that means. We must assume it's linked to his regular output of transfer rumours. I checked out his Twitter timeline for March. 100s of tweets, mainly transfer rumours. But none are written for a media outlet.

A Google search on Schira backs this up. All top results are his social media streams, and of websites citing his social media feed. But none which originate from published work in any media outlet. Remember, his tweets indirectly lead a story on Chelsea's official website.

Schira appears to be involved in sports media at some level, but that is totally unconnected to his multitude of transfer stories. Indeed, it appears to be a front for an appearance of authority. But tellingly - none of his stories are published, with a by-line, anywhere.

Schira has over 66k Twitter followers, more than many prominent sports journalists. He will have posted rumours which are true (even a broken clock is right twice a day), which will be highlighted. Such is the constant sport news cycle, the false rumours are swiftly forgotten.

Schira is just a strong case study of why a lot of online content is fake, unsubstantiated nonsense. He has been very successful in conning a lot of people and media outlets. He has exploited the system of finding the players and teams who get the most retweets and traction.

Also worth pointing out from a journalistic viewpoint, reporting accurately on transfer rumours is extremely difficult. Players, agents, club officials can brief something - in good faith or not - that does not come to pass. Many people work to agendas and deliberately mislead.

(apologies for a very long thread, but deliberate misinformation and bullshit like that is irksome to come across regularly in a working situation)

Wasn't aware of this, but last summer Schira tweeted out made-up quotes from Sporting CP president relating to Bruno Fernandes. Worth noting too how his bio has subsequently been edited to remove specific media outlets. https://tribuna.com/en/manutd/news/3410489/

Schira continues to post recycled information from published outlets, and masquerade it as his own. Again, no outlet will publish his work but many will cite an 'Italian football journalist' halfway down their rehashed online work. 350+ RTs, 1.6k+ likes. https://twitter.com/NicoSchira/status/1245491154243792899

Several high-profile journalists have contacted me to highlight multiple examples where Schira has stolen the work to pass it off as his own. Scandalously, he even plagiarises photos with his own watermark. A shameless fraud.

A cool 632 RTs and over 3,000 likes on Schira's latest fantasy, divulging Liverpool's fee for Timo Werner, contract length and even bonuses! Incredible stuff. The Express: 'According to transfer expert Nicolo Schira' https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1277093/Liverpool-news-Timo-Werner-transfer-RB-Leipzig-contract-offer

The one media website that recognises Schira is TuttoSerieC - covering the third tier of Italian football.

None of the content writers at media outlets will be aware of this, and a baseless rumour by a nobody generates endless content. What a world.

Sadly, @NicoSchira has blocked me for illustrating the fact his work is completely fraudulent and often stolen directly from actual sourced journalists.

But when multiple media outlets quote him as a 'transfer expert' or 'transfer guru', it is lazy, ill-research nonsense.

'Italian transfer expert'

All confirmed!

Genuinely mad how this guy keeps the charade going for so long. Arguing with one of the best sourced and informed journalists in Europe, who calls him out on stealing his work, and still doubles down. 'Expert in Transfermarkt' https://twitter.com/NicoSchira/status/1278023632455905280

"What's important for me is that the news is TRUE." @NicoSchira

"Never doubts". "Total agreement."