End of league start

Premier League wants to shorten transfer window

Raheem Sterling moved to Arsenal on August 30 - one day before the deadline day.(Bild: AFP/APA/Isabella BONOTTO)

According to a report, the English Premier League is planning to shorten the summer transfer window. According to the Times, the transfer window is to close before the start of the soccer season in future. The 20 Premier League clubs are therefore hoping that other European leagues will follow the English example.

The Premier League has already tried something similar once before. In 2018, the transfer window closed before the start of the season. However, because the transfer phase continued in Europe's top leagues, English clubs felt disadvantaged and changed the deadline again. It is therefore only likely that the transfer window will be shortened again if the German Bundesliga, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1 follow suit.

Danger from Saudi Arabia
There could be one obstacle, however, according to the Times. The transfer window in the cash-rich Saudi Arabian league would remain open. If a Saudi club were to lure a top star from the island with an offer worth millions after the English transfer deadline, English clubs would not be able to sign a replacement for the departing player.

"It was a disaster"
Wolfsburg coach Ralph Hasenhüttl worked for Southampton for almost four years and is vehemently calling for the transfer window to be shortened. From his experience in the Premier League, however, the Styrian also said this summer: "It will only work if all the other leagues do the same. We once had a situation in England where we closed earlier and everyone else still had the transfer window open. That was a disaster because players ran away from us one after the other."