Fabrizio Romano slammed TeamTalk for falsely claiming, in his name, that Rodrygo had agreed to join Arsenal in January..

Sky Sports' renowned Italian transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, took to his exclusive paid column on Wednesday to slam the infamously notorious British online media outlet TeamTalk — for falsely claiming, in his name, that Real Madrid's Brazil international forward Rodrygo had agreed to join Arsenal in January.

Romano firmly denied ever making such a statement. He said, in fact, as recently as late September, he had remarked to industry peers that the idea of Real Madrid selling such a key first-team player in January was completely far-fetched.

With a touch of sardonic humour, Romano rebuked the report: "Back in March, Rodrygo suffered an ACL tear in his right knee, it was an injury that has sidelined him for an entire year and caused him to miss the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico that had concluded just months ago. His primary focus is simply on recovering and returning to the pitch as soon as possible."

"As for the claims that he’s agreed to join Arsenal, Real Madrid hasn’t even announced that he’s recovered enough to resume light training yet! How exactly is he supposed to play for the Gunners at this stage? Is he supposed to hobble around the pitch on crutches, dribbling the ball while limping along?! It’s completely illogical!"

Romano further clarified the player's situation, noting: "In recent years, we’ve frequently seen Rodrygo’s name linked to various top Premier League clubs, and almost every time, these fabricated rumors originate from the same few outlets in the UK, Spain, or certain Chinese-language media."

(This includes British outlets such as TeamTalk, TalkSPORT, SPORTbible, The Sun, The Mirror, and Football Insider, as well as Graeme Bailey—a purveyor of fake transfer rumoirs often associated with 90min) 

(Spain – Fichajes, El Nacional, Real Madrid mouthpiece MARCA, and Barcelona mouthpiece Diario Sport)

(Asian Chinese-language media – Dongqiudi, Zhibo8, TITAN Sports; various aggregators on China’s Weibo and on Facebook in Hong Kong and Malaysia; and female rumour-mongers on our own platform "Ms. Titan", "Ms. Hype Up" and "Ms. Plan To")

"The most prominent example of this is how Rodrygo seems to be perpetually linked with Liverpool."

"The narrative behind his supposed move to the Reds is almost always that he would be the successor to Mohamed Salah—yet, in reality, that has never come to pass."

"Since 2025, we have also frequently seen his name linked to Arsenal. While it is true that Arsenal holds Rodrygo in high regard, that is as far as it goes."

"During this period, the only Premier League club with a genuine possibility of signing Rodrygo has been Manchester City."

"Such a move would have been contingent upon Savio’s departure. However, as events in this summer transfer window unfolded, Savio did indeed move to Tottenham Hotspur—yet the Cityzens never took any concrete steps toward signing Rodrygo."

"Since sustaining his injury, Rodrygo has remained deeply grateful for the unwavering support provided by the La Liga giants throughout his recovery, while head coach José Mourinho has consistently encouraged him and looked forward to his return to the squad."

"Ultimately, given that Rodrygo is currently focused on recovering from a serious injury, it is far too early to speculate about a potential transfer in the summer of 2027."

Image source: Internet / Fabrizio Romano’s official paid column