At the minute a number of websites, led by the Metro, are claiming that Arsenal have agreed a fee with Bayern Munich for midfielder Luiz Gustavo and while I’d love nothing more than this to be true it seems as if this is all based on a rumour which started on the internet and has no foundation in reality.
Yesterday some random person posted on an internet board that Gustavo’s agent had been on a radio station in Austria claiming that the deal was agreed for the exact same amount that the Metro are now quoting – £14m. This seems to be ground zero for the rumour but it was quickly copied and pasted and made to look all reputable and re-tweeted like crazy.
From there it spread like wildfire. Everyone and anyone was tweeting it as if it was their own bit of information, some even adding that they’d ‘just heard’ the interview for themselves despite the fact it was supposed to have been on Austrian radio the day before, but one thing was missing from every single tweet – not one of the people named the radio station this world exclusive had been heard on.
Not one.
A check of the media in England, Austria and Germany shows that none of the outlets there have heard this interview either – well, none except the Metro and we all know that not only do they not need a credible source to run a story, they are also quite happy to make up their own quotes [they did so with Higuain].
The person who wrote the Metro piece about Gustavo agreeing a fee didn’t even put their name to it. Wouldn’t you want yours on the piece which breaks the news of the first money Arsenal had spent in this transfer window?
I’m afraid to say that given the timing and content of the Metro’s article, despite the fact that they’ve left out the reported quotes, the information they are reporting is so close to the stuff which was doing the rounds on Twitter that I’m pretty certain that’s what they based their whole piece on.
I could, of course, always be wrong, and Arsenal have agreed a fee for Gustavo. Anything is possible eh, even the Metro getting a story right.
Originally Posted by Munchies
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