The football transfer market in the age of AI and burner accounts Alfredo Pedullà versus Fabrizio Romano, and much more

There are Fabrizio Romano, Grok (X’s artificial intelligence), a handful of controversial accounts, and Alfredo Pedullà. No, they’re not in the same room, and this isn’t the start of a joke — it’s the cast of the most curious underground story of this transfer window, played out mostly on digital turf, tweet after tweet. To be clear, it’s a saga generating hundreds of thousands of interactions daily across social media, rivaling even the Lookman saga. To understand its twists and turns, let’s take a step back and start from the beginning.

Main Characters

Trying to reconstruct the whole story after the fact is nearly impossible, especially without knowing the language and codes of X and its niche community. Between mutual accusations, unflattering nicknames ("Furbizio", "tuna oil", "Mr. Ciapanò", "Nanni Moretti"), and a specific slang of acronyms and memes (mixed fry-ups, "hwg", the two Spidermen), the squabbles have been going on for weeks, non-stop. And it’s not just those names in the spotlight — several prominent figures in Italian football journalism, like Gianluca Di Marzio and Nicolò Schira, have joined the fray, followed by a flood of new users that make it hard to keep track even for X veterans. That’s the beauty of the transfer window, after all: it’s the time of year when we get hooked on the wildest stories. And when the journalists themselves fuel the fire, the social media meat grinder is quick to join in.

First, it’s helpful to introduce the duelists and the key players in this drama, as in the showdown of a western. The undisputed protagonist, whether he likes it or not, is Alfredo Pedullà, founder of his self-titled platform and pundit for Sportitalia, who presents himself to the public with a telling bio: "bread, football, and the transfer market". His rival needs no introduction — Fabrizio Romano, the European transfer market guru, who keeps over 100 million followers updated with his trademark "Here we go!" (hence the "hwg" in Pedullà’s most sarcastic tweets).

Then there’s Gianluca Di Marzio, who raised a generation on transfer scoops at Sky Sport; his former apprentice Matteo Moretto, now a leading voice especially on the Spanish market; Nicolò Schira, formerly of Gazzetta dello Sport, now active at Tuttosport and his own site; and Grok, the AI that, under Elon Musk’s guidance, has become an anti-AI of sorts (blasphemy, claiming inspiration from Adolf Hitler, and insulting users — just to name a few highlights).

Casus Belli

As mentioned, the epicenter of this storm is Alfredo Pedullà, who has for years taken aim at more high-profile colleagues like Romano and Di Marzio. His recurring accusations: stealing exclusives and serving “mixed fry-ups” of news — long lists of players and clubs that he claims are confusing and baseless. The first shots date back to the 2023 and 2024 transfer windows, but tensions peaked in the last month and a half. Specifically, during the negotiations over Dan Ndoye’s exit from Bologna, with Napoli losing out to Nottingham Forest at the last second.

The dispute flared up over the ownership of the news, on June 18. Romano and Moretto reported Napoli’s progress in talks for the Swiss winger. In the replies, one account (Francesco, @15Tefra91) wrote: “Why don’t you ever credit the source of the scoop, namely Alfredo Pedullà? As long as you get the ‘Here we go’, it doesn’t matter if you trample over others’ work. Well done.” Romano’s reply came about 90 minutes later: “Strange account, Francesco.” No great imagination is needed to catch the meaning — it’s a clear jab at a potential fake account linked to Pedullà. And not the first of its kind.

The back-and-forth opened Pandora’s box, and just weeks later, it happened again. On July 21, Pedullà posted an update about Ademola Lookman potentially leaving Atalanta. “Can’t wait to see a 'Here we go' when you got there 48 hours late,” commented a user named AdeJonesNA, earning a like from Pedullà himself. This time, Romano responded within minutes: “Ade, while we wait for news, I see a strange photo and a strange pattern of replies.” Once again hinting at the possibility of a burner account.

On a similar note, the next day 15Tefra91 criticized a tweet by Nicolò Schira, who joined the chorus: “Interesting profile. Wonder who’s behind it. Oh, if only we knew…” And then doubled down, just to be clear: “Freshly made (June 2025). Common thread: random attacks/insults to all journalists — except one. Guess who…”

Clone Wars?

Without dragging it out, the same pattern repeated with the other insiders mentioned above, and with several anonymous users (starting with one Ciccio Esposito) accused by half of Football Twitter of being Pedullà’s virtual alter egos. Naturally, this sparked the community’s curiosity, prompting deep dives and investigations into all the most suspicious accounts. This also triggered a wave of parody accounts pretending to be fake burner accounts themselves. A matryoshka no one can piece back together.

That’s where the facts stop — the rest is speculation and gossip. What is known is that Pedullà has previously raised eyebrows by replying to his own tweet via a suspicious self-comment urging readers to “stay informed.” That alone was enough to ignite this narrative and push the Sportitalia pundit — or whoever runs his accounts, as he often points out — to block a huge number of profiles. Basically everyone (literally) who questioned or criticized him, or accounts like Ade and Francesco. The rest was carried by what Romano would call “strange waves of replies” from these “strange accounts”.

Are they just fans of Pedullà, and critics of his better-known rivals? Odd as it may be, that’s possible — there’s no hard evidence proving otherwise. And for weeks, Ade and Francesco have denied any affiliation, even posting photos and videos to confirm they’re real. The cherry on top? Grok’s arrival on the scene: in not-so-polite fashion, the AI chimed in to roast Alfredo, confident that the accounts involved were all fake Pedullà burners. Fortunately or unfortunately, we’ll never know the full truth — just like in the real transfer market. And maybe that’s exactly how we like it.