Where have all the rumours gone?

Not too long ago, to get the latest football rumours you’d either buy a newspaper, tune into Sky Sports News or check the various sports websites available. This meant sorting through rumours for a team who wasn’t one of the top four was almost impossible.

Now, in the age of #ITK accounts, Sky sources and social media, you’re never far from a transfer rumour. But still, in this technological age, there’s very little being reported on Norwich’s transfer activity, so what gives?

It is obvious that top six bias is still alive and well in 2015. It’d be strange if it didn’t. The news outlets, Twitter ITK’s and news accounts know this, they give them the most clicks, retweets, favourites and therefore the most money. It is more than likely that most transfer gossip talked about on social media has no truth in it entirely (Looking at you Daily Star) with Gareth Bale and Christiano Ronaldo both apparently signing at Manchester United for the last two summers.

But modern media outlets are normally cover the wider picture, with coverage of the Premier League as a whole being the priority. The fact that Norwich have hardly featured so far could either suggest that there is literally no news to report on or because they do not know about any supposed dealings.

Secrecy is something the club is renowned for. I mean, when was the last time that the club disclosed a transfer fee for a player? The Youssouf Mulumbu deal was only revealed in the press just days before his eventual transfer. If the club are keeping things under wraps then it is very admirable, and something very hard to do in the modern game. Manager Alex Neil said in a recent interview with the club’s YouTube channel that, “The only disappointment is that the targets we’ve tried to attract we haven’t been able to get in yet”, suggesting that the club are actively seeking out targets behind the scenes, some of which me may never know about.

Then it is the game of what to believe. Here on the site we have already covered the infamous #ITK accounts that is the staple of the modern game—people who are obviously in the know about every transfer that never happens. But then, in reality, they give fans false hope (certainly me), which almost always ends in disappointment…

To conclude however, don’t despair. I’ve seen a lot of fans on Twitter moan about the lack of rumours and almost suggest that them not existing means the club is literally doing nothing, something that is certainly not true. There will be people at this very moment working hard to bring in talent for the new season, and we can all hope that this delay means something big is in the offering. But could be worse, at least we’re not selling our best players unlike a few fellow Premier League clubs…