Paul Pogba is moving to Manchester United for an eye-watering fee, and although the young Frenchman will be paid lavishly for his services in Manchester, there has been a lot of media focus on how good this deal is for his agent Mino Raiola.
And that's fair enough, the final haggling point of the deal was his fee which will be astronomical, but there was another player in this saga who came out looking very, very good.
That is Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.
In a time where 'reports' and 'sources' run riot and no transfer rumour can be taken at face value anymore, the man already known for his reliable reputation for accurate information from Italy was spot on at every point along the way.
He's become so popular among Manchester United fans that he has decided to visit the city, and has said that he hopes to meet up with some of the fans who had been interacting with him on twitter:
@the_great_cunt @ifuseekamy_ tks mate, hope to drink with all of you as soon as i'll come to Manchester for the first time in my life ?
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) July 28, 2016
So how did he become so loved with the fans? Aside from being 100% correct on both Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic joining the club, by being accurate, at every step of the Pogba process.
Firstly, he announced that an agreement had been met with the player, and that United had prepared the bid:
#ManchesterUnited, pronta l'offerta per #Pogba: c'è una base d'intesa col giocatore, le cifre https://t.co/sxF6o69Ex4
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) July 6, 2016
This is what kick-started every other publication going nuts on Pogba to United.
He also explained how the move would need to happen, with Raiola being the driver of the deal:
Gianluca Di Marzio: Paul Pogba won't push to leave #Juventus , it's agent Mino Raiola who wants #MUFC move for 20% of the fee. #FRA
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) July 8, 2016
Then he revealed that Juve would trigger Higuain's release clause starting a domino effect.
#Juventus-#Higuain, c’è l’ok del giocatore: presto un contatto col #Napoli, tutti i dettagli https://t.co/WiboYOOx4w
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) July 14, 2016
Even when the Real Madrid rumours kicked in, he stayed on the ball saying Woodward was still in negotiations.
@shirazmalik1 he Just had a meeting on monday with Juve. Now there are phone calls, emails...
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) July 24, 2016
Even when Juve fans tried to wind him up, he laughed it off.
@Hammoody1 My credibility was on the line for Mou, Ibra, Miktharian, every day in 22 years ???
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) July 27, 2016
He correctly informed us that Raiola was on his way to Miami a day before we saw him on Paul Pogba's Instagram, and then confirmed that he had arrived back in Italy to advance the deal.
Oggi nuovi contatti tra #Raiola (tornato in Italia) e la @juventusfc per il futuro di @paulpogba, trattato dal @ManUtd @SkySport
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) July 26, 2016
And rather than gloat once it was all officially confirmed... He broke the new of Pogba's new shirt number.
#ManchesterUnited, #Pogba ha scelto il suo nuovo numero di maglia: la foto https://t.co/C5aHzqQ79g
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) August 9, 2016
Fans have now been praising Di Marzio and his team on twitter for their work, which is great to see. His reputation is now at a level that his peers could only dream of, as his sources for matters relating to footballers in Italy, Italian clubs, and now clearly even Italian agents are rock solid.
Fair play to him.
