How we rate reliability
Every story on TransferHub carries a rating. Here's exactly what it means.
Not all transfer news is equal. A club's official announcement is not the same as a single tweet claiming interest. To make that difference visible at a glance, TransferHub gives every story two signals: a type and a reliability rating.
1. Story type
Each item is automatically classified from the language of its headline and summary:
- Confirmed — official, done, signed, completed or unveiled. The deal has happened.
- Rumour — linked, eyeing, in talks, considering. Unverified and still developing.
- News — transfer-related, but neither a confirmation nor a speculative link.
2. The reliability rating
The stars on each card come from the source that reported the story. We weight each newsroom by its track record for breaking transfers that actually go through, then adjust for the type of story: a confirmed deal nudges the score up, an unverified rumour nudges it down, and an "exclusive" from a strong source earns a small bump. The result is a 1–10 rating, shown as five stars.
Source weightings
Sky Sports
Dedicated transfer desk with a strong record on breaking Premier League deals.
BBC Sport
Conservative and rarely wrong; reports deals once they are well advanced.
ESPN
Strong global network, particularly on European and South American moves.
The Guardian
Measured reporting with good sourcing across the major leagues.
Goal.com
Broad, fast coverage that mixes original reporting with aggregation.
Football365
Good on context and analysis; more round-up than exclusive-breaker.
What the rating is not
The reliability rating is an automated estimate, not an editorial guarantee. It tells you how much weight the reporting source usually deserves — it cannot promise any individual transfer will happen. Rumours are speculative by nature. Always open the original article and judge for yourself before treating anything as fact. See our disclaimer for the full terms.
How stories are filtered
We only surface football (soccer) transfer content. Match reports, injury round-ups and other sports — NFL, NBA, cricket and the rest — are filtered out automatically, so the feed stays focused on the window. New stories are pulled from source feeds regularly and de-duplicated so you never see the same move twice.