Premier League announces second summer transfer window in early June
03/27/2025 09:58 AM
What's better than a summer transfer window? How about TWO summer transfer windows?
What's better than the summer transfer window? How about TWO summer transfer windows! According to an article in The Athletic (£), the Premier League has announced the creation of a second, earlier transfer window that will open on June 1 and close on June 10 ahead of the start of the Club World Cup.
The formation of this new "exceptional transfer window" will make it so that Manchester City and Chelsea, the two clubs competing in the competition, to sign players ahead of the tournament. The new window is not restricted to just those two clubs — all Premier League clubs will be able to buy and sell players during the open window.
The window, which was approved by FIFA back in October, will close on June 10, and then reopen six days later on June 16 and remain open until September 1.
What isn't exactly clear is whether this new window will line up with other international federations' windows. One would think so otherwise Premier League clubs would only be able to sign free agent players and not players competing in federations whose windows would not yet be open. I presume that they've worked all of this out already, but it would be pretty funny (and very on brand for FIFA and the Premier League) if they had not.
So why not just open the transfer window on June 1 and just leave it open until September 1? Well, Premier League rules state that transfer windows can only be open 16 weeks in the year — 12 weeks in the summer, 4 weeks in January. This extra Club World Cup window is unique to that competition, which starts on June 14. That requires the window to close for six days before reopening with the "real" window.
The whole thing is ridiculous and inane, which makes sense since the rules are being bent and excepted for a ridiculous, inane, and completely stupid competition that doesn't need to exist in the first place. But I guess it means Tottenham Hotspur have an extra week to get some early business done if they want to.
