It's kicking off - Luke Edwards puts Fabrizio Romano in his place on social media over false NUFC claims

Fabrizio Romano is not exactly the most popular figure amongst Newcastle United fans.

The Italian journalist, known for breaking transfer stories, appears to have an axe to grind with Newcastle.

Whether that is actually the case or not, it's widely believed that Romano is paid off by the 'Big Six' to spin stories that will unsettle their transfer targets.

The sheer number of posts around Sandro Tonali to Spurs this summer, and Alexander Isak to Liverpool last year, are a good indicator of the tactics employed by Romano.

Luke Edwards came at Fabrizio Romano with receipts!

This is exactly what The Telegraph's Luke Edwards has called out on X, revealing Romano's process and how he's able to influence these big deals, using his Julian Alvarez rumours as the example.

"This is the blueprint. Help start the fire by excitedly reporting the interest. Add kindling to ensure it keeps burning by constantly tweeting the same thing with the words changed or moved into a different order.

"Watch the fire spread, wait for the player to say he wants the move and then declare it’s up to the clubs to agree a fee. His current club didn’t want to sell but now the conditions for the buying club to succeed have been stoked and the wind is in their favour.  Job done. And it will be repeated."

Romano couldn't resist the bait and chomped down, firing back by pointing out how many times Edwards posted last year insisting that Isak was staying at Newcastle - of course, he ended up being dead wrong.

Edwards wasn't going to let it lie, though, and posted an image of a Romano post last year saying that Newcastle had signed Joao Pedro. The forward ultimately went to Chelsea, and Edwards pointed out how he has no contacts at Newcastle because they think of him as a grifter.

Are you Team Edwards or Team Romano?

Neither journo is perfect, but at least Luke Edwards has sources inside Newcastle United, and his insistence that Alexander Isak was staying put last year was obviously what he was being fed by said sources who didn't want it getting out just how much disruption there was behind the scenes.

Romano is working hard to ensure this Sandro Tonali move happens. It may just be a coincidence that Tonali's Italian agent is also very keen to get this done. If we are able to link Tonali to Spurs because Robert De Zerbi is Italian, then the fact that Romano and Giuseppe Riso are Italian means that Riso has paid Romano to push the agenda.

We have absolutely no proof of that, by the way, but at least we're honest when we make things up.

It was fun seeing the fight unfold on X. Perfect for a slow news day. Keep up the battle, lads!