EPL Clubs Vote to Change Transfer Window Deadline to September 1

February 6, 2020
English Premier League EPL

By Adedapo Adesanya

Football Clubs in the English Premier League (EPL) have voted to change the summer transfer window to bring it in line with the rest of the European leagues.

It means summer’s transfer window will now close on September 1 at 5 p.m. for Premier League clubs. The means that clubs in England will be allowed to stiull sign players in the summer transfer window after the season must have kicked off in August.

For the past two seasons (2018/2019; 2019/2020), the transfer window in England closed the day before the top-flight campaigns began.

In a statement, the Premier League said, “At a Shareholders’ Meeting today, Premier League clubs voted to adopt a change to the Summer Transfer Window closing date for season 2020/21.

“This will move the closing date back to the traditional point at the end of August/early September.

“The 2020 closing date will therefore be 17:00 BST on 1 September (31 August 2020 being a UK Bank Holiday).”

The vote was taken at a Premier League shareholders’ meeting in London on Thursday, February 6, 2020.

The decision to change from the unified deadline was taken in 2017 when clubs voted to close the transfer window a day before the start of the new season, abandoning the European-wide deadline at the end of August.  Only Manchester United, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Watford and Swansea voted against the amendment.

The transfer window was moved to the start of August in England following complaints from clubs and managers that keeping it open after the start of the season was disruptive.

But with the decision, Premier League managers soon found the arrangement uncomfortable as it means European teams could still able to sign their players despite the transfer window closed in England.

According to reports, it was hoped that major leagues across Europe would also bring their own windows forward but this did not happen and a number of clubs found themselves in the uncomfortable position of knowing their players were in demand across the continent but unable to bring in replacements for anyone they wanted to sell.

The 2020/2021 season is scheduled to start on August 8, 2020 and with this new decision, it means that EPL clubs will be able to continue signing players.

Adedapo Adesanya

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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