A few weeks before the 1st of July, which is the date on which the transfer window is being officially opened in most of the European countries, the tabloids are beginning to anticipate all transfers, which are to be carried out during the next two months. Most news are proving to be untrue and the media loses credibility. Among the Polish media this sector is dominated by newspapers such as ‘The Fact’, ‘Super Express’ and ‘The Sports Review’. We did not have the chance to see them in the Football Manager series so far. Can we expect some changes in that matter in the newest version of the game?

Probably yes. In recent years the media play an increasingly important role in the world of football. As a result, Sports Interactive developers decided to extend this element of the game, as Miles Jacobson has told us in the movie announcing the 2009 version. In addition, he said that the game will make transfer rumors on it’s own, which will work in a way known to many of us (websites, tabloids etc.). Many of them will turn out to be only speculations and only some will find their confirmation. Miles also added that they may appear without being given a specific source. After a certain period of time we will probably know already which sources are reliable. Therefore we will have pay attention to what we are saying in interviews or at press conferences. Any unfortunate statement can unleash a real storm on the transfer market! What’s more, the journalists will remember our statements for a long, long time. The list of rumors about each team’s players will be available for out inspection, as illustrated by the following screen:

As you can see, in the lower British leagues the regional media handle all rumors and speculations. Therefore in the higher leagues their place will be probably taken by the higher popularity sources. Does that mean that ‘The Sports Review’, ‘Super Express’, ‘The Fact’ or one of the internet portals - Onet.pl will inform us about the Polish Ekstraklasa transfer rumors? Hopefully, yes. What will the future bring to us? We should know this in approximately 2,5 months...