Premier League Clubs Vote to Close Transfer Window before the Season Starts

Premier League clubs have voted to bring forward next year’s summer transfer deadline. Starting from 2018/19 the window for buying players will now close at 17.00 on the Thursday before the start of season. The move comes after complaints from several high-profile managers who have faced the distraction of having to deal with players intent on changing clubs with the season already underway.

Arsene Wenger, who sold Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool on deadline day despite having fielded the same player against the team he was set to join, was highly critical of the existing window earlier this week.

‘I support it of course,’ Wenger said of the new plan.

‘For the regularity of the season, it’s better because you can have a player who you could play against three times if the transfer window is not closed when you start the season. That doesn’t look normal.

‘I spent my whole summer in the transfer market, we basically had 10 weeks. What people will do is adapt. What makes them decide is that there is only three or four days to go and suddenly everybody comes out of the bushes to say, ‘Yes, we are alive, we are here and we want to buy’. If the timing is shorter, they will adapt to that as well.’

The decision to enforce change, which will not impact on other European leagues, was not unaminous and will mean clubs will have to conclude their business in a far shorter space of time, especially considering there is just a three-and-a-half week gap between the World Cup final on 15 July and the start of next season which is scheduled to kick-off on 9 August.

Credit: Metro

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