When Fabrizio Romano posts "Here we go!" on his X handle every transfer season, the football world usually stops scrolling.
Ghanaian Ebenezer Michael Danso Deveer, aka Micky Jnr, often invites comparisons with the Italian transfer guru whose reputation for tracking moves across the footballing hemisphere has given him a social media following that even some of the world's top players can't match.
Micky Jnr finds it unsettling, if not amusing, to be treated as "Africa's Fabrizio". After all, he never meant to be what many see him as.
Across a continent where Champions League nights and Premier League weekends turn cafés and living rooms into pulsating soccer shrines, Micky Jnr focuses his gaze inward to the beating heart of African football rather than the rarified world of million-pound transfers and weekly wages.
His credo? "Here The Right News Only," as he puts it in his X bio.
Micky Jnr's nearly 1.5 million social media followers trust him to have the last word on all things African football, be it news or insights.
The young Accra-based journalist often delivers football scoops before most press releases are even drafted. He breaks transfer exclusives, highlights coaching changes, reports on pre-season camps of African clubs, and profiles upcoming talents from Uganda and Benin to South Sudan.
Road less travelled
As others chased fame covering Europe's giants, Micky saw a gap and, along with it, took on a responsibility.
He started off reporting on tournaments like the AFCON qualifiers, CAF African Nations Championship, CAF Champions League, and transfer stories that sometimes originate in Gaborone and culminate in Casablanca.
Using his social media platforms and the trust of agents, players, and federations from Lagos to Lusaka, Micky Jnr is no longer just reporting African football. He is amplifying it — raw, real and relentless — while redefining how it is covered.
"I wasn't born in a newsroom," Micky Jnr tells TRT Afrika of his journey.
"I was 11 when I first realised that I didn't just love football; I loved the way football lived in people. I wanted to tell those stories. I used to save my lunch money just to buy the Graphic Sports magazine. When that ran out, I would beg my teacher for his phone so I could scroll Goal.com under the desk."
Born and raised in a small family of two children, Micky Jnr's football awakening was less about goals and more about giving a voice to those who scored them.
While most of his peers worshipped Barcelona or Manchester United and debated Ronaldo versus Messi, Micky Jnr found magic in the skills of a local striker from Abidjan or a right-back grinding it out in Lusaka.
He was drawn to the quieter corners of the football universe: league results in Swaziland, player moves in Tunisia, coaching changes in Tanzania, and AFCON qualifiers in Kinshasa.
"Even as a kid, I knew our football mattered. I just didn't see anyone telling it with the passion it deserved," he says. "Our soccer-watching dens are loud about Europe. But they are silent about what is happening two cities away. That silence? That's what I chose to break."
Recently, he flew to Mogadishu to attend an exhibition featuring African and Somali legends — not for clicks, but for the love of the sport.
"People asked, 'Why Mogadishu?' I said, 'Because Somalia deserves to be seen. Its football deserves to be honoured'," he explains.
No sponsors, no salary
With no corporate salary or media house behind him, Micky Jnr's journey has been built on grit.
"I pay for my flights. I sacrifice comfort. There were days I slept in airport chairs, crossed borders by bus, and went hungry. There were nights I questioned everything, only to show up again where African football was happening. But then, I would get a message from a player saying, 'Thank you for telling our story'. And that made the pain feel like purpose," he tells TRT Afrika.
Micky Jnr has broken transfer stories from all five CAF zones – from Al Ahly's continental ambitions to Mogadishu City Club's grassroots rebuild.
He has covered three AFCON tournaments, entirely self-funded, even as he aims for the fourth one in Morocco, AFCON 2025.
Agents now tip him first. Players slide into his DMs with exclusives. Clubs quietly ask for coverage. His brand operates on trust, not traffic.
More than a clone
"Fabrizio is brilliant. But what I am building is different. It's not just about transfers. It's about truth. It's about dignity. It's about saying African football matters before the rest of the world notices it," says Micky Jnr.
One of his more emotional moments came when a player texted him after he broke his transfer story. "He said, 'Bro, now my community believes I made it'. That hit deep. That's when I realised I was more than just reporting football. I am reporting hope."
He once covered a CAF Confederation Cup game with no sponsor or media house backing him. A club later thanked him, saying, "You gave us our first taste of visibility."
"African football is waking up. Fans are watching local leagues. They are calling out bad federations. They are following talent from their neighbourhoods. That shift? That's power. And it's long overdue," says Micky Jnr.
He points to South Africa's PSL and Tanzania's NBC Premier League as examples of leagues finally getting it right — slick broadcasts, vibrant fan culture and professional content.
Bigger than self
"This isn't about me," says Micky Jnr of his success. "It's about a continent. About future journalists in Walewale, Kitwe or Mogadishu, knowing they don't need permission to start. Just purpose."
He dreams of a future where African leagues retain top talent, stadiums are full on local matchdays, fans wear their hometown jerseys with pride, and journalists like him don't have to choose between rent and reporting.
"I'm not waiting for Europe to validate us. I am here to document our greatness. Give us access. Give us platforms. And give us the same energy you give to Premier League nights. Because of our football? It's electric. It's emotional. It's ours," the young journalist tells TRT Afrika.
"I didn't choose African football because it was easy. I chose it because it's home. And home deserves a voice."
