There could be a significant alteration to the summer transfer window for Liverpool and the 19 other Premier League clubs, pending the outcome of planned discussions.
The market is typically open from early or mid-June until the end of August (possibly start of September), which creates a brief overlap between the start of the English club season and the transfer window.
That has led to certain players beginning the campaign at the epicentre of intense speculation over a possible move, with the uncertainty running the risk of unsettling footballers and leaving managers with scant (if any) time to adjust their squads if the player departs.
Premier League clubs to discuss moving summer transfer deadline
As reported by Sam Wallace for The Telegraph on Monday, Premier League clubs are set to discuss the possibility of closing this summer’s transfer window on 14 August, two days before the start of the 2025/26 season, at a meeting on Thursday.
The proposal would need 14 votes in order to pass, having been put forward by sporting directors (and executives in similar roles) among the 20 top-flight clubs who’d rather see managers having their squad locked in once the campaign begins.
That’d see a reversion to the timing which had been in place in 2018 and 2019, which was discontinued as it meant the English window shut earlier than other European leagues, hence leaving Premier League sides vulnerable to players leaving for overseas.
Liverpool would have to act much sooner this summer if deadline is brought forward
If the proposal goes ahead and the Premier League’s summer transfer window ends before the new season begins, it’d require the Liverpool hierarchy to act with much more haste than they did last year – something that Gregory Vignal believes may happen.
The Reds completed two inbound transfers in 2024 (Giorgi Mamardashvili and Federico Chiesa), but those deals weren’t confirmed until the final week of August, by which stage the top-flight campaign was already underway.
Bringing the deadline forward would require Richard Hughes and the Anfield recruitment team to complete their business earlier this time around, although it may help that – at boardroom and backroom level, at least – there won’t be as much upheaval as there had been last year, which could’ve contributed to the delay in transfers being done.
It may yet be another summer of major change at Liverpool, though, if FSG are unable to persuade Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold to sign new contracts. Even if just one of that trio were to leave, they’d take some replacing.
Even if the deadline remains at the end of August instead of being brought forward, it’d be nice if LFC didn’t cut it so fine with their incoming transfer business this year!
