01 Jun 2026 13:34:39
The summer transfer window opens on Mon June 15th and closes on Tues September 1st, but why?
The season ended on Saturday night with the Champions League final so there's no reason why the window should not be open now - in fact negotiations are already taking place, but just cannot be finalised for another 2 weeks. Then the 26/7 season will kick off in mid August (Aug 17th last year) , but clubs face having their preparations into disarray by losing key players up to the window closing 2 weeks later.

The window should open the day after the last match of the old season and close the day before the first match of the new season - how hard can it be?

1.) 01 Jun 2026
01 Jun 2026 14:59:40
Hear, hear JR.
Baz does lurve logical proposals.
Sadly, though, far too sensible, fair and logical for the rarely fit for purpose FA, EPL etc.

2.) 01 Jun 2026
01 Jun 2026 17:26:01
I mean, deals can be done and signed now.

3.) 01 Jun 2026
01 Jun 2026 17:45:37
How will the new financial rules affect our ability to stay up?

4.) 01 Jun 2026
01 Jun 2026 18:06:33
Spot on, JR!

5.) 01 Jun 2026
01 Jun 2026 19:57:45
The issue is you need every country to agree when to close the window, and they don't all start on the same day. If we close two weeks earlier than everybody else, you run the risk of having star players unsettled and then sold without being able to replace them.



I agree, though in principle, that it would be best that the window closes before the first game!

6.) 01 Jun 2026
01 Jun 2026 22:56:49
I don't think we need to be concerned at what other countries do. We simply choose start and finish dates to suit ourselves, and then stipulate that no transfers to or from English clubs can take place outside those dates "in or out".

If, say, other countries choose to have a finish date later than ours, English clubs will not be permitted to sell to them after our chosen end date. How difficult is that?

7.) 01 Jun 2026
01 Jun 2026 23:38:53
What JR exactly said.
It's not rocket science fgs.
Our leagues determine deadline dates for buying and selling our players.

8.) 02 Jun 2026
02 Jun 2026 07:22:14
But it's an ecosystem. Lots of transfers depend on others happening. We might want to sign a player in Germany, but he can't move until they've secured a replacement (from say Spain) , who won't move until they've got a replacement. If all the clubs in the chain have two weeks longer to sign a player than we have, we don't get our player, and he goes somewhere else, and all other transfers in the chain go fine.



It's just not really practical without putting English teams at a disadvantage.

{Ed001's Note - the best way to do it is to get rid of the windows altogether, like we used to have until recently. The only clubs who benefit from this system are the bigger ones who can stockpile players. It also makes it much harder for young players to come through, clubs can't afford to take a chance on leaving a gap for them, in case they flop. So instead they buy extra players to cover for injuries. If there is no window, you can leave space in the squad for the youngsters to get a chance and then buy if they are not working out after being given a run.

It is very telling that the teams that rely heavily on their academies, such as Crewe, dropped right down the leagues the moment the window system was brought in. It is silly as it was an Italian idea and about corruption anyway. They like it in place as the smaller clubs borrow players from the bigger clubs to plug holes in their squad, then those bigger clubs lean on them for 'favours' later.}

9.) 02 Jun 2026
02 Jun 2026 10:32:04
Agreed Ed, better if everyone does it at the same time (or at least all the "big" leagues) . I'd also like to see some measure to stop the rich clubs "stockpiling" players but not sure what as yet. I hear what you say about the effect on clubs like Crewe that rely on their academies, but no window at all would see those same rich clubs snatching key players from ambitious up and coming clubs (like us) mid season - how long would we have retained Raphina with no window in place? If he'd been at Crewe they'd have been happy to sell, us less so.

{Ed001's Note - yes but that money would be coming in midseason, after you had the benefit of them playing and then sell at their peak price. Whereas with windows you are limited to when you can sell them, which can mean value dips.}

10.) 02 Jun 2026
02 Jun 2026 12:14:29
But what if you do not want to sell your best players mid-season and thus destroy your own chances of winning promotion or avoiding relegation or qualifying for Europe, etc. etc?

{Ed001's Note - same problem as there is now though really, but you can always promise to sell them the moment you have achieved your aims. Also, the chances are that you would have had to sell them before the season started or in January otherwise.}

11.) 02 Jun 2026
02 Jun 2026 14:30:05
Promising to sell them the moment you've achieved your aims would not be an issue, neither would selling them before the season started or in January. However, if it's mid April and you're in 17th place, desperately trying to avoid relegation, and only kept afloat by the achievements of your leading striker, and a club in 6-8th place sees their top man sustain a ruptured ACL, which risks them not qualifying for the CL, they could snatch your man away, thus solving their problem but condemning you to relegation.

Ok for the big money clubs, but not for the smaller fry.