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Football transfers can often be a brutal, ruthless and cutthroat business.

Massive amounts of money are thrown around, reputations are frequently at stake, and careers can be permanently shaped, for better or worse, in just one window.

And now it seems the world of transfer journalism is heading the same way, after a social media spat between two of the industry’s leading ITK names.

Over the past few years, transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has built a huge social media following through his relentless coverage of transfers and football news, while Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg has also established himself as one of football’s most prominent ITKs.

Transfer journalism has become a major cottage industry in recent times, and the race to be first with a major exclusive is fiercely competitive, so for those working in the field, tensions can run high - and at times, they can boil over completely.

That is exactly what happened on Sunday evening, when Plettenberg took issue with the reporting around Ivory Coast star Yan Diomande’s reported move to Real Madrid, a story Romano has been covering extensively.

In a manner that echoed Colombo, Plettenberg said on X: “And one more quick note on the Yan Diomande saga, because more and more things in this business are becoming a bit ridiculous:

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“If there had already been a full agreement between RB Leipzig and Real Madrid, it would be possible to report the exact transfer fee, wouldn’t it? The fact is: there still isn’t one. That continues to be confirmed by RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and the player’s camp. If a €100 million bid has been rejected, then it’s pretty obvious the final fee will be well over €100 million, isn’t it?”

That post was then targeted by X user @Blue_Footy, who provoked the situation by asking “Despite Fabrizio’s Here We Go?”, which brought an immediate reply from the Italian, who wrote:

“Don’t worry, Diomande goes to Real Madrid as Klopp went to Germany. Ask about the fake news yesterday on Man City bidding €100m for Diomande when they’ve been out for days, and when Madrid were already advancing. They are good at talking about others (not even that good, they can’t even tag me) but… check your own news first, then talk about me.”

Plettenberg then told Romano he had ‘crossed a line’ by accusing him of ‘fake news’, and he also criticised Romano’s reporting of Germany’s Jurgen Klopp appointment, calling it ‘simply disrespectful to every journalist who actually does proper reporting’.

Further old grievances surfaced between the pair, with Romano hinting that he might release old personal messages from Plettenberg, who had once asked how to grow followers, before Plettenberg decided to bring the dispute to a close:

“Everyone should ask themselves on what basis they report agreements, agreements in principle, done deals or “here we go’s”. Yan Diomande will join Real Madrid. DONE DEAL soon. Good night,” he posted.

That has, for now, drawn a line under the argument between the two transfer news heavyweights, but with another five weeks left in the transfer window, do not be surprised if more digs appear before deadline day.