Munchkin
Well-known member
As a professional journalist, Naylor should also be limited by facts. As print media struggles in the Internet age, professional journalists' reputations mean more and more, not just for the journos themselves, but also the newspaper they represent. If people can get their news anywhere, they are likely to go where they get news they can trust.
If he makes claims like this on a whim, without some credible source, and it turns out to not be true, his reputation and that of the argus would suffer making it harder for them to bring in readers.
He may not have had to get the ok from the club to write it, but the argus's editor would probably have to ok it.
Maybe the club haven't officially let him know, that doesn't mean he hasn't got unofficial word, a well-placed employee who leaks information without the club's permission, etc., maybe he got word from agents, or sources at other clubs (via other journalist local to those teams). The are a few ways he could get information on how close the deal is to being completed.
This.... With bells on.