The dispute unfolded on X on Sunday after Romano announced that the deal had been completed, using his trademark "Here We Go" confirmation to signal that the transfer was effectively done.
"BREAKING: Yan Diomande To Real Madrid, Here We Go! Agreement closed tonight with RB Leipzig for a fee over €100m for the Ivorian winger. Diomande will fly to Madrid this week for medical tests and contract signing until June 2031. Done," Romano posted.
However, the claim was quickly challenged by Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, who maintained that negotiations between Real Madrid and RB Leipzig had not yet been concluded.
Questioning Romano's certainty, Plettenberg wrote:
"If there had already been a full agreement between RB Leipzig and Real Madrid, it would be possible to report the exact transfer fee, wouldn’t it? The fact is: there still isn’t one. That continues to be confirmed by RB Leipzig, Real Madrid and the player’s camp."
While acknowledging that the Spanish giants remained confident of signing the Ivorian winger, Plettenberg stressed that discussions between both clubs were continuing. He added that Diomande had already reached a verbal agreement with Real Madrid on a contract running until June 2031.
The exchange soon escalated into a personal war of words.
Romano fired back by accusing Plettenberg of circulating inaccurate information in previous reports.
"Don’t worry, Diomande goes to Real Madrid as Klopp went to Germany. Ask about the fake news yesterday on Man City bidding €100m for Diomande when they’ve been out for days, and when Madrid were already advancing. They are good at talking about others… check your own news first, then talk about me."
Plettenberg strongly rejected the accusation, insisting he had never reported that Manchester City submitted a €100 million bid.
"By accusing us of ‘fake news’ with ‘Man City bidding’ (never reported), you’ve unfortunately crossed a line."
The German journalist also questioned Romano's reporting style, suggesting that the Italian journalist often prioritised speed over verification.
"Your Klopp report was simply ridiculous and disrespectful to every journalist who actually does proper reporting. Your report was based on probability, not on actual agreements. As long as you keep deleting false ‘Here We Go’s’ and posting results minutes before the final whistle just because of algorithms and the need to be first, you should probably keep a lower profile overall."
Romano responded by referencing private conversations he claimed to have exchanged with Plettenberg years earlier.
"Maybe I should share messages from a few years ago where you asked me ‘how can I increase followers’ or ‘your job is my motivation’… But I’m not going out of context, as you did."
He also defended his reporting on the Diomande deal, arguing that Plettenberg had publicly criticised his update despite later describing the transfer as effectively completed.
Plettenberg, however, condemned the suggestion that private messages could be made public.
"Good to know that you’re willing to share private messages and internal conversations. A sad development. Unlike you, I’ll keep our conversations private. You used to be a role model for many. For me too. Unfortunately, for me, not anymore."
He further defended his reporting, adding:
"Your biggest problem, to this day, is that anything you don’t know or don’t have is automatically wrong or never happened. Thankfully, you don’t know everything."
Romano later appeared to draw the dispute to a close, writing:
"Florian, attacking me for a Here We Go (and it was after a medical in London, verbal agreement) on a deal literally YOU also called done can probably be the final masterpiece. Let’s get back to work. Good morning."
Amid the back-and-forth, The Athletic's David Ornstein offered a more cautious assessment of the situation, reporting that negotiations between Real Madrid and RB Leipzig were still ongoing. According to Ornstein, while all parties remain optimistic that the transfer will eventually be completed, no formal agreement has yet been reached between the two clubs.
The public disagreement has drawn widespread attention across the football community, highlighting the fierce competition among transfer journalists as they race to break one of the summer's biggest transfer stories.