The Premier League’s 20 clubs are set for discussions on Thursday over whether to realign the transfer window to the rest of Europe — how it used to be — or continue ending transfer activity prior to the start of the season.
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For the past two seasons, the window for PL clubs closed the day before the season began — a change that many expected would lead other leagues around Europe to follow suit. The idea was that clubs would conduct all of their business prior to the first official game and that would allow for greater continuity and less uncertainty for managers when the results counted.
However, that hasn’t happened among any of the other top leagues in Europe, which left a handful of PL clubs in a no-win situation for much of August. While a PL club might receive an offer for a player they wish to move on, their inability to sign a replacement left them with one of two choices: keep an unhappy player whose value is likely decreasing, or leave your squad thin in the name of financial gain.
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There is another potential fix that is expected to be considered: leave the window as it is for domestic transfers while leaving it open until the end of August for international signings.
As things presently stand, PL clubs are at a massive disadvantage and desperately need to rectify the situation before one (or more) of them are forced to endure another month of chaos.