Premier League to have TWO summer transfer windows for first time in history as new dates are revealed
THE PREM summer transfer window will be split in TWO after a club vote.
Prem regulations state the summer window can last a maximum of 12 weeks, with the winter period lasting a maximum of one month.
But new temporary transfer regulations introduced by Fifa to allow clubs to register new signings ahead of this summer’s expanded Club World Cup have forced a one-off change of rules.
Contracts have traditionally expired on June 30, the “end” of the season, with players officially joining new clubs from July 1.
But Fifa announced clubs involved in the 32-team tournament would be able to register new players between June 1 and June 10.
And while Chelsea and Manchester City are the only Prem teams involved in this summer’s £770m competition in the USA, club chiefs agreed at their shareholder meeting in central London to align their own regulations with world chiefs.
In a statement, the Prem said: “Premier League clubs have today agreed the dates for the Summer 2025 Transfer Window.
“The window will open early, between Sunday 1 June and Tuesday 10 June, due to an exceptional registration period relating to the FIFA Club World Cup.
“It will then reopen on Monday 16 June and close on Monday 1 September.”
The current rulebook, in place for this season, state that the summer window should start “at midnight on the date 12 weeks prior to the date on which it is to conclude”.
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That would have meant an opening to the window from June 9, although players moving clubs would not have been eligible to play for their new side until the start of July.
But club bosses agreed that the 12-week maximum period should remain, bringing the decision to have two separate periods when deals can be made.
The confirmation of the September 1 closing date comes despite a majority of club sporting directors having signaled they wanted the window to shut BEFORE the start of the Prem campaign on the weekend of August 16.
But club chiefs feared a repeat of what happened when a similar approach applied by the Prem in isolation to the rest of Europe in 2018 led to clubs unable to replace players lost to clubs outside England in the final two weeks of the global window.
Discussion over a window alignment between the Big Five leagues have been held in recent months but at this stage there is no agreement – although Germany’s Bundesliga is in favour.
But it was agreed at today’s meeting that the Prem cannot go it alone again and that an early closure must be confirmed by all five major leagues before it is a feasible move.