News last evening of a big change, proposed to start in 2025 to bring the Premier League in line with other European football associations.
Posting on their Twitter / X feed, Talksport lead with the news that next Summer’s Transfer Window will close before the start of the Premier League Season. This will mean that unlike this year, the English Premier League will fall in line with other European top leagues.
Says their report: ” Executives from the European Club Association, which represents clubs from England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, are all committed to stopping clubs from trading players after the new campaign has started.
The 2025/26 Premier League season is due to kick off on Saturday, August 16 with plans in place to close the summer transfer window 25 hours earlier on Friday, August 15.
It is then hoped that the Premier League can convince the rest of Europe to follow suit with clubs from the top five leagues unable to recruit after the new season is underway.”
Which sounds like a massive dose of common sense all round- many managers have commented how unsettling it is having players enter pre-season and first competitive matches still not knowing which club they will be playing for during the remainder of the season.
Hammers Coach Julen Lopetegui himself complained during the tour of Florida that it was unsettling not knowing who was staying and who was leaving.
Finally something sensible coming out of the Premier League. It doesn’t spell the end to ‘deadline day’ drama, it just means that if the proposals are accepted by all the major leagues in Europe-the window closes before a ball is kicked in the competitive PL season.