The Premier League will open two transfer windows next summer to accommodate Chelsea and Manchester City, who will take part in the Club World Cup in 2025.
According to the BBC, the first transfer window will open from June 1 to June 10, then close for five days and reopen from June 16 to September 1. This open-close system is in place to comply with FIFA regulations regarding the length of the transfer window.
According to FIFA, each country can only open a transfer window for 16 weeks per year. Four weeks are usually allocated to the winter season and the remaining 12 weeks to the summer season.
Clubs taking part in the Club World Cup are allowed by FIFA to register new players between 1 and 10 June, just before the start of the tournament. They are also allowed to register new players between 27 June and 3 July, when the tournament enters the knockout phase.
However, the Premier League did not want Chelsea and Man City to have a time advantage over the other 18 clubs, so it was decided that all the top teams in English football would be given the opportunity to recruit players at the same time.
However, if the 12-week transfer window is run consecutively from 1 June, the Premier League will have to ‘close shop’ on 24 August. This could put them at a disadvantage as the transfer windows of other top European leagues do not close until the end of August.
As a result, the Premier League has taken a five-day break so that the end of the season can still be observed in conjunction with other top European leagues. The 12-week window can still be respected.
However, the break in the transfer window is not without its problems. The 2025 Champions League final on 31 May and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and UEFA Nations League matches at the beginning of June could complicate the transfer process as players may have to negotiate while focusing on their national teams.
