With changes to the way the summer transfer works for Premier League clubs announced on Thursday from 2018 onwards, the attention has switched to which teams voted for and against the alterations.
From 2018 the transfer window to buy players will close on Thursday August 9 at 1 p.m. ET, two days before the 2018-19 season is scheduled to begin.
After transfer sagas dominated the early weeks of the season with Virgil van Dijk, Philippe Coutinho, Alexis Sanchez and Gylfi Sigurdsson in limbo and not out on the pitch, the PL clubs got together over the international break and 14 voted in favor of having the summer transfer window end before the start of the season.
14 of the 20 PL members voted in favor of the decision, the exact number needed to enforce the change, but who were the five who didn’t want the changes? That’s right, five, because Burnley decided to abstain from voting altogether.
Sky Sports is reporting that Swansea City, Watford, Manchester City, Manchester United and Crystal Palace all voted against the transfer window shutting before the season started.
The other 14 PL clubs all voted in favor of shutting the window early in terms of additions to their squads, while they would still be able to sell players to other leagues where their window closes later in the summer.
That factor has led to criticism of the decision with other leagues in Europe potentially able to buy PL players without the PL clubs being able to bring in a replacement.
The other problem is that teams involved in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League playoff rounds (see: Liverpool and Everton this season) will have to make their signings before they know whether or not they are in the group stages of those European competitions.
Overall the vibe from PL clubs and managers is that this is a good thing and most of the other European leagues will follow suit. Plus, a PL club does not have to sell to another team in Europe if it doesn’t want to after their window to buy a new player has ended.
Although that won’t stop situations similar to Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool occurring, those instances will likely be very rare.
Having a settled squad when the season kicks off is the ideal scenario for everyone.