Close the transfer window before the season starts?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40931420

"Premier League clubs are discussing plans to close the summer transfer window before the start of the season next year.

The current window, in line with many other European leagues, closes on 31 August, almost three weeks after the start of the Premier League season.

A vote is set to take place at the next shareholders meeting on 7 September."


Interested to hear cross-party ideas on this proposed change. It makes a lot of sense but you'll still end up with a situation of bigger clubs swooping in hours before the season kicks off to try and sign players from the plankton, leaving them no time to bring in any replacements.

I also think that with the managerial merry-go-round that is the PL, most managers would actually prefer to be given a few games to get to know their squad's strengths and weaknesses before drawing final conclusions in the market.

Another gaping loophole is the fact that Barca, Real and PSG will be able to continue unsettling and tapping up players with impunity long after the season has started, and PL clubs won't even be able to demand player swaps in return. The only way this would work fairly is if UEFA impose equal deadlines on all of Europe's major leagues.

Call me a cynic, but I just don't buy the whole "x has been excused from the match day squad due to not being in the right frame of mind" ****e. Was never a problem back in the day before transfer windows even existed, and frankly shouldn't be a problem today. If a human being lacks the mental and emotional resolve to put themselves in the "right frame of mind" to kick a ball around for £2000 an hour, they honestly need serious help.

 

I'm all for it, can imagine the bankrolled teams having an issue with this. They need a lot of time to waste their money and disrupt other clubs off the field since they struggle doing it on the field

 

I think I'd be for it, but then I believe the time frame could be too short for multiple deals to be done, so what we'd see are bigger clubs disrupting smaller clubs during the season a lot more than they currently do.

 

Agreed. You'd see a lot more of those ridiculous "x has agreed to join y" announcements in early March.

Distractions and unsettling are bound to happen either way. And I'd rather my team's players feel "unsettled" at the beginning of the season than at the squeaky bum end.

 

Makes perfect sense, and it would end the vast majority of the player issues that we've got at the minute - after the season has kicked off.

 

100%.

The fact this isn't already the case is ****ing ridiculous.

 

What happens is suddenly you have a player that wants out (to say Spain), you cant replace him as your window is shut.

Good idea in theory, not in practice

 

you don't let them go, is the simple answer

 

All very well but then you have a player that does not want to play for you, sometimes its better to let them go.

 

Buy someone else and **** him off to Salford on holiday...

Eventually the rich precious ****ers might get the message?

 

You make all your players aware that no-one will be leaving once the UK window shuts, as you can't replace them.

Simple

 

I wonder who you're referring to?

 

We are talking about football players here, most have a lower IQ than me

 

Would be for if other countries did the same. If other leagues aren't it'll just put the Premier League at a disadvantage. It would be good to have it all done before though

 

There is that horrible international week every season though, think it's after the 3rd game. The transfer window being open keeps that period exciting.

I know there is still 8 days or something after that but it's better than having a whole two weeks. Maybe I'm just being selfish....

 

It would also make a nice convenient excuse for apathetic chairmen (a growing breed) to turn a nice profit without taking the blame for not reinforcing.

 

Put it in their contracts...you can not leave once the premier league window is closed...simples!

 

You do have a point, but I'd have thought that a lot of the other leagues would like to adopt this, too.
Getting that confirmed would be for the best.

 

I would consider delaying the start of the season til September. It might add a little to fixture congestion, but august always feels too early to be playing football anyway.

I'm probably in a minority of one here though

 

I was watching The Debate show on Sky and this was mentioned. The FA are looking to close the window so that English clubs cannot buy players but foreign teams could still buy from PL teams. This is a very bad idea as you could lose a player but not be a ble to replace them.