The agency "Roc Nation Sports International", which manages the affairs of Brazil's Vinicius Junior and Ivory Coast's Yan Diomande, has hit out at what it called "false information" circulating about one of its players. The statement never named the player, throwing the door open to plenty of speculation.
Michael Yormark, the agency's president, said in the statement: "We cannot stand idly by when unprofessional and uninformed media outlets publish false and damaging information with the aim of attracting attention".
He added: "This is unacceptable, especially when it targets our players personally without any basis, which is disturbing and harmful and may amount to defamation".
Yormark closed by stressing that "media outlets and journalists must bear greater responsibility".
So who did he mean? The statement never made clear whether it was Vinicius Junior, recently linked with a move to Arsenal as his contract renewal talks with Real Madrid stall, or Yan Diomande, whose potential switch to the Spanish giants is tangled up in a complex legal crisis involving a dispute between several player agencies.
Press reports had tied Vinicius to a possible move to Arsenal during the summer window. The London club's manager, Mikel Arteta, refused to be drawn, saying only that he would not talk about players who do not belong to his team.
Spanish newspaper "Marca" recently revealed a legal dispute between the agencies representing Yan Diomande, one that has reached FIFA and complicated any negotiations over his potential move to Real Madrid. The Spanish club remain interested in signing him.
The statement pointed to nobody. That ambiguity led English media to lean towards Vinicius and the rumours over his future, though others reckoned it could just as easily have targeted the Diomande reports, given the controversy swirling around his transfer file in recent days.