Premier League clubs vote to change summer transfer window deadline to 1 September

Top flight clubs vote to revert back to old system.
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Premier League clubs today voted to ditch their decision to close the summer transfer window before the start of the season.

The move will bring the Premier League back in line with the rest of Europe just two years after they voted for an early closure in the hope that the rest of Europe would follow suit.

Clubs had wanted to bring the deadline forward to prevent late disruption to their squads. However, although it prevented Premier League rivals buying, it did not stop European clubs making moves, with English clubs then unable to bring in replacements.

The matter has been a hot topic of discussion at previous shareholders’ meetings and was finally resolved today.

The clubs agreed that, beginning from the start of next season, the summer transfer window will close at the end of August, or start of September.

For the 2020/21 season the transfer window will shut at 5pm on September 1 because August 31 is a bank holiday.

For the past two seasons, the window closed the day before the top-flight campaign began but the move failed to tempt major European leagues to adopt the plan.

Senior officials of all 20 Premier League clubs met today and voted for the switch. A statement from 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.”

Managers of English clubs backed the plan, explaining how closing the window before others has weakened their position.

“They spoke about finishing it before the season starts,” said Jurgen Klopp (left) in September. “Good idea, but only England did it. That makes no sense. It was a good idea but it didn’t work out.”

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