English Premier League clubs voted on Thursday to
close the 2018 close-season transfer window before the
start of the 2018-19 campaign.
English Premier League clubs voted on Thursday to
close the 2018 close-season transfer window before the
start of the 2018-19 campaign. Following complaints
by managers that transfer activity disturbs their
preparations, clubs will not be able to register new
players after 1600 GMT on the Thursday before the
season starts. The transfer window in Europe's other
major leagues runs until August 31, meaning clubs
outside England could buy players from English top-
flight teams after the new Premier League deadline.
"Premier League clubs have today agreed to a rule
amendment that will see the summer transfer window
in any year end at 17:00 on the Thursday before the
start of the season," the Premier League said in a
statement.
"This is for Premier League clubs only and has no
bearing on other leagues and competitions."
Europe's other major leagues -- Spain's Liga, Italy's
Serie A, the German Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1 --
now face a decision about whether to fall into line with
England.
Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta says Serie A's 20
clubs are in agreement to "set the end of the transfer
window on July 31" in Italy.
"The transfer window is exhausting," he said recently.
"It's become a circus."
The Premier League's move was announced following a
meeting of club officials and is not believed to have
been agreed unanimously.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger gave his backing to
the decision before it was announced.
"Even in the games, you sit there before the games and
even in players' minds they have no clarity," he told
reporters at his weekly press conference.
"Are they in? Are they out? Are they half in? Are they
half out? Are they tapped up in the afternoon of the
game by people who want to get them out? It's not the
way to work and it's uncomfortable.
"Every single manager in the league would agree that
it's time to kick that out before the season starts and
not continue to have players in the dressing room who
are half out and half in."
England's Football League -- the second, third and
fourth tiers -- is not affected by the move.
Premier League clubs spent a record £1.4 billion ($1.8
billion, 1.5 billion euros) on new players during the
2017 close-season window.
The window closed last Thursday, three weeks after the
new season had started.
Chris Hughton, manager of newly-promoted Brighton
and Hove Albion, welcomed the decision.
"That is good news," he said. "Most managers would
say the same. You have a hectic enough time as it is
preparing for the season."
Earlier this week, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin
gave his support to making the close-season player
trading period shorter.
Transfer windows were introduced by world governing
body FIFA in 2002.
In Europe they generally run from the start of June to
the end of August, with a shorter mid-season window in
January.
Source: NDTV
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