"Here we go" is the formula journalist Fabrizio Romano uses to announce that a transfer negotiation is done: full agreement between the clubs and with the player, contracts finalised, with only the official announcement left. It's not a rumour or a leak: when the here we go lands, the deal is sealed.
Three words every football fan has learned to wait for, phone in hand. But what exactly do they mean, where do they come from and — above all — what do they tell us about how the transfer market really works? Let's take it step by step. Here we go.
Here we go: the exact meaning in the transfer market
In transfer market jargon, "here we go" marks the moment a negotiation passes the point of no return. When Fabrizio Romano posts the phrase next to a player's name, he is communicating three precise things:
- the agreement is total: the clubs have closed the financial deal and the player has said yes to the contract terms;
- the paperwork is finalised: documents are ready or already signed, with at most the medical and formalities remaining;
- the official announcement is a matter of hours or days: the here we go arrives before the clubs' statement, and that is exactly where its value lies.
In other words, the here we go is the final step before the official confirmation. It doesn't mean "talks are progressing well" or "there has been contact": it means "it's done". That distinction is fundamental, because Romano has built his entire reputation on the discipline of using the phrase only when a deal is genuinely closed.
What "here we go" does NOT mean
It's worth flipping the definition around, because on social media the phrase is often misused:
- it is not a prediction or a hunch ("I think he'll end up there");
- it does not indicate an ongoing negotiation, however advanced;
- it is not the official confirmation: that always belongs to the clubs, with the statement and the traditional photos.
If you see a "here we go" posted by a random account, it's worth nothing. The whole weight of the phrase lies in who signs it.
Who is Fabrizio Romano and how the phrase was born
Fabrizio Romano, born in 1993, is an Italian journalist specialising in the transfer market who has become the most-followed source in the world for transfer news: as of mid-2026 he counts over 40 million followers on Instagram and around 26 million on X, more than many Serie A clubs combined.
He tells the origin story himself: a few years ago he was covering a Manchester United negotiation and, after about a month of daily updates, he closed the saga by simply writing "here we go!". The reaction surprised him: fans of Arsenal, Liverpool and Barcelona started asking him to announce their signings with the same formula. From there the catchphrase became a trademark — and then a genuine industry standard.
Today the here we go is a cultural phenomenon that goes beyond journalism: clubs like Toronto FC have brought Romano directly into their announcement videos (famously for Lorenzo Insigne), the phrase gives its name to his podcast, and Romano has even appeared as a character in the EA Sports FC video game series, starting with FC 25.
Why Romano became the standard for transfer announcements
The answer is simple: reliability. In the ocean of transfer market noise, Romano imposed an iron rule — the here we go only arrives once signatures are done or imminent, verified with direct sources at both clubs and in the player's entourage. Getting a here we go wrong would cost him credibility built over years; that's why debunked announcements can be counted on one hand. Fans know it, and that's why they wait for his confirmation before celebrating.
The most famous here we go announcements
Some announcements entered social media history even before football history.
Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United (2021)
On 27 August 2021 Romano posted: "Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United: here we go!". CR7's return to the Premier League after twelve years, ahead of the club's announcement by hours, became for years the most-liked post of his career and definitively cemented the phrase worldwide.
Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid (2024)
On 2 June 2024, a few hours after Real Madrid lifted their fifteenth Champions League at Wembley, the most anticipated tweet in recent transfer history arrived: "Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid, here we go!". The post racked up over 20 million views within hours and beat the likes record previously held by the Ronaldo announcement. A saga that lasted years, closed with three words.
From rumour to here we go: the reliability ladder
The most interesting thing about the here we go is not the phrase itself, but what it reveals: transfer news is not all created equal. Every transfer climbs a ladder of increasing reliability, and knowing how to read it is a genuine skill. Simplifying:
- Rumour — "Club X is interested in player Y". Speculation, enquiries, names linked. Most deals die here.
- Negotiation — Real, verifiable contact: meetings between executives, formal bids, figures recurring across multiple reliable sources. The deal is possible but can still collapse.
- Here we go — Total agreement reached. The deal is closed, certainty is (almost) absolute.
- Official confirmation — The clubs' statement: signature, shirt number, the traditional photos.
Long-time market watchers learn to weigh every story along this ladder: who it comes from, how many independent confirmations it has, how consistent it is with the clubs' actual needs. If you want to understand the mechanics behind each step — windows, contracts, transfer rules — we've explained them in our guide on how the transfer market works.
Waiting for the here we go means arriving late: the game is beating it
And here's the point true transfer enthusiasts know well: once the here we go lands, there's nothing left to predict. Certainty is at its peak, but the credit for "calling it first" is zero. The beauty of the transfer market lives entirely on the previous steps of the ladder: reading a rumour, cross-checking it with a contract expiry, a gap in the squad, the manager's signals — and committing to a call before the deal becomes obvious to everyone.
That's exactly the skill rewarded by Oraloco, the transfer market prediction game with no betting and no money involved: pick a player, predict the team he'll join and the window in which the deal will close. Get it right and you earn points and climb the leaderboards — and the earlier and harder your prediction, the more it's worth. Whoever commits while the negotiation is still on step 1 or 2 of the ladder collects far more than those who jump on at step 3: the here we go, in practice, is the finish line beyond which a prediction no longer counts. No stakes, no financial risk: just market knowledge, as we explain in our guide to transfer market predictions without betting.
Frequently asked questions about the here we go
Who invented "here we go" in the transfer market?
Fabrizio Romano, who used it for the first time at the end of a long Manchester United negotiation. The fans' enthusiasm turned it into his trademark.
Does "here we go" mean the transfer is official?
Not yet: it means the agreement is total and closed. The official confirmation comes with the clubs' statement, usually within a few days.
Can a here we go fall through?
It's extremely rare. Romano only posts the phrase once documents are finalised, so deals collapsing after a here we go are exceptions you can count on one hand.
Test your instinct, before the here we go
Next time you smell a transfer coming, don't wait for someone else to confirm it: make your prediction on Oraloco and prove you saw it first. Find out how the game works and start for free: at the next here we go, the "told you so" will be yours.