Premier League approve plan for huge transfer window change after summer chaos

Executives of the European Club Association, which represents clubs from England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, are committed to agreeing a deadline day that will stop clubs from trading players once the new campaign has started

The Premier League has joined ranks with Europe’s other top leagues to ensure that next summer’s transfer window closes before the season kicks-off.

Executives of the European Club Association, which represents clubs from England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, are committed to agreeing a deadline day that will stop clubs from trading players once the new campaign has started.

The plan is for the transfer window to close next year on August 15 - 24 hours before the start of the Premier League season. It is hoped that pressure can be exerted on the rest of Europe to follow suit, given that clubs from the top five leagues will be unable to recruit new players once their seasons get underway.

A proposal to bring a uniform deadline day this summer collapsed when La Liga withdrew their support after coming under pressure from Barcelona. The Catalan giants are in a financial mess and required more time to raise funds to pay for new signings like Dani Olmo.

But the ECA now has a broad agreement in place to unify transfer deadline day across the continent. Former Sunderland director Chris Woerts, who has become a prominent figure in the Dutch Eredivisie, revealed that the idea has gathered growing support.

Woerts said: “The clubs are working hard to get the decision made on this within the entire ECA. Next year the transfer window must close on August 15, before the leagues kick off. Everyone is getting frustrated and annoyed by the fact that players are still being sold for weeks while the competitions have started.

“One major club in Spain caused a problem so it couldn’t happen this year. That was FC Barcelona. Because of all their financial problems they were not able to make moves on the transfer market until a very late stage. So they broke the pact of the ‘Big Five’.”

Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and West Ham are all represented at the ECA.

Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano and Celtic’s non-executive chairman Peter Lawwell both sit on the ECA’s board of directors. Premier League fans have argued for years that it made no sense to allow clubs to buy and sell after the season had started.

This year, clubs could buy and sell players up until August 30 - two weeks after Manchester United opened the campaign against Fulham at Old Trafford. Now deadline day dramas will be played out before a ball has been kicked.

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