ISomewhere hidden in the midst of all the thoughts, anecdotes and explanations, a sentence appears that seems strangely self-evident and yet triggers a moment of silence. “These are still people,” says an established player advisor, when he talks about his relationship with “transfermarkt.de” (TM) in a long conversation. The man, who, like the half-dozen colleagues from the football business with whom the FAZ spoke, does not want to be named publicly, is not critical at all, he appreciates “TM” as a source of information and an opportunity for self-expression.
But it is remarkable that a portal on which amateur experts provide athletes with market values is so successful, although rumors about the future of employees are traded, which usually break up again after a few days. That a medium in which the intimate health data of soccer players is published and through which consultants try to place sometimes misleading messages has significantly more readers than news providers from major, reputable publishers.
