Official: Premier League Moves Summer Transfer Window Back Into Line with Europe

For some time now the expectation has been that the Premier League would return to a September 1st deadline day for the summer transfer window, bringing England back into line with the rest of Europe’s top leagues. As of today, it’s official.

The summer 2020 transfer window will slam shut at 5PM BST on September 1st. It’s the expected move, and almost certainly the sensible move, but it’s also a disappointing one given there had been hope other leagues would follow the EPL’s lead.

Moving to close the transfer window before the season kicked off was a move that made a lot of sense, and when the move was implemented it seemed an idea with widespread support elsewhere. In the end, though, only the EPL made the switch.

Managers, including Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp, complained that the result of that put English clubs at a disadvantage—not that Liverpool these days seem especially inclined to do late transfer deals regardless the specifics of the window.

Now, that disadvantage is gone again. Though it will lead to a situation where players could face off against their future clubs in August before finalising a move, as was the case with Liverpool when they signed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.