Premier League confirms major change to summer transfer window due to Club World Cup

The Premier League has confirmed that the upcoming summer transfer window will be held across two periods, with the window opening and closing before the Club World Cup begins.

Manchester City and Chelsea will both feature in the revamped, expanded global club competition in the United States, which runs for a month from 14 June.

To allow clubs to recruit and register players ahead of the tournament, the transfer window will open earlier than usual on Sunday 1 June before closing nine days later.

The window will then reopen on Monday 16 June once the Club World Cup is underway, with clubs able to do business until Monday 1 September. Last year, the summer transfer window was open between 14 June and 30 August.

Fifa’s new Club World Cup format will feature 32 teams competing in eight groups of four. Chelsea will face Flamengo, Esperance de Tunis and one other side in Group D, while Manchester City will take on Wydad AC, Al Ain and Juventus in Group G.

The pair earned inclusion after winning the Champions League in in 2021 and 2023 respectively.

Previously held as a smaller event in the European winter, the re-positioning of the Club World Cup in the calendar has caused significant disquiet with top players, coaches and administrators expressing their concerns over the competition. A proposal from Manchester City to postpone their opening two Premier League fixture was blocked.

Richard Masters, the chief executive of the English top flight, has cautioned that the impacts of the tournament will be significant.

“The leagues and the players’ unions are not happy with the decisions that are being taken at a global level,” Masters said in an interview for The Boardroom podcast from Sky Sports.

“We’ve seen the Club World Cup come in, and obviously that is going to have an impact on the Premier League. If either Manchester City or Chelsea get to the final of that competition, the Premier League starts four weeks later, and all players are supposed to have three weeks off as part of the contractual commitment.

“So how does that work? With great difficulty I would say. We believe that if leagues and players’ unions were involved in the decision-making processes about how these competitions are put together, you’d have better outcomes. That’s what we’re calling for.”