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Signings on 31 August like that of Manchester United’s Manuel Ugarte last year may become a thing of the past - Getty Images/Shaun Botterill
Premier League clubs will discuss closing the summer transfer window this year on August 14, two days before the start of the 2025-2026 season, when they meet on Thursday – a measure that was previously introduced in past years and then abandoned.
The proposal is currently scheduled to go to a vote which would require a super-majority of 14 to pass but if the preliminary discussions between owners and chief executives suggest there is little support for the idea among that cohort it is likely to be stopped pre-vote.
The idea was formulated in early February at a meeting of sporting directors from the 20 clubs, and those in similar roles, who feel that it would be better for managers to have their squad in place before the season begins.
But there are problems persuading other European leagues to fall into line and then there is the question of the Saudi Pro League, now globally the second-biggest spender on fees after the Premier League.
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Ivan Toney signed for Saudi club Al Ahli from Brentford for £40 million on transfer deadline day last summer - Getty Image/Yasser Bakhsh
The Saudi clubs spent £119 million in the last January window and have indicated that they will continue to bid against Premier League clubs for the best players. Many Premier League owners and executives feel that shutting the window earlier would give them a disadvantage in negotiations.
Telegraph Sport reported last month that the consortium of Premier League sporting directors had also suggested that the January window be cut to two weeks to minimise disruption to the managers’ squads.
In the summer players can arrive and leave after the season has begun and it was the view of the sporting directors that preparation, as well as the integrity of the league, would be better served by stopping all trading before the 2025-2026 season starts on Saturday August 16.
The summer window shut early in 2018 and 2019 in time for the start of the season although that was found to be disadvantageous in the market and so the clubs reverted to the old system after the Covid-disrupted season.
Analysis: Sporting directors and club owners divided over transfer window
It is not often that Premier League ownerships and the sporting directors who work for them diverge on an issue – but it looks like, in this case, those who sanction the spend may have a different view to those who advise where the money goes.
This is an unusual case of a recommendation from the Premier League sporting directors – some of the most senior and experienced execs in the game – that may not even make it to a vote of the clubs.
The concern from club owners and chief executives is clearly that it could put their clubs at a disadvantage in the global transfer market. Why, they may ask, would they want to do that? The idea has been tried before and rejected subsequently but for many reasons it keeps on coming back.
There is a case for saying that the Premier League has become so dominant in the European transfer market that essentially it is the market. As broadcast deals flatline elsewhere in Europe or, in some leagues, media partners try to renegotiate deals, the Premier League’s financial might is all-conquering.
With the exception of a few clubs – Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint Germain – the cash injected into the market comes from the Premier League and is re-spent around Europe. Are Premier League clubs essentially bidding against one another for the latest prospect from Rennes or Eintracht Frankfurt? If so they could arguably close their own trading window whenever it suits them.
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Joao Felix signed for Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for £42 million in August, before being loaned to AC Milan in January - Getty Images/Darren Walsh
But if European clubs selling into the Premier League can convince their biggest trading partner that it has a rival – like Saudi – then the dynamic changes again. An early deadline could be used against Premier League clubs.
Either way the transfer window and deadline day has become a fundamental part of the Premier League’s great sell – the closest it has to the draft in the NFL and the NBA. It is popular with the media and fans and helps generate a buzz around the new season. Does it matter if that season has already begun when the last transfers and loans are agreed?
Arguably the most transformative signing of the Premier League era, Eric Cantona to Manchester United from Leeds United took place on November 25, 1992, in an era before the prescribed transfer window. United had played 16 league games by then and Cantona would not feature until their 18th on December 6, against Manchester City.
In those days transfers were permitted season-long, apart from a suspension for the last few weeks of the season. The windows came in as part of the changes enforced by the Bosman ruling. English clubs opposed the original proposals at the turn of the millennium but since then the wealth of the Premier League has grown to such an extent that the clubs are in a position of pre-eminence – the likes of which they could not have dreamed of more than 20 years ago.
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