New Delhi:

The special window is set to open between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June, then remain closed for five days before running again from Monday, 16 June until Monday, 1 September. This summer will witness the first expanded FIFA Club World Cup, featuring 32 teams and following a format similar to past editions of the traditional World Cup.

The Premier League has confirmed a revised summer transfer window structure, introducing two phases to accommodate Manchester City and Chelsea ahead of their Club World Cup commitments. 

Chelsea and Manchester City will represent the Premier League in the tournament which is set to take place in the United States from Sunday, June 15.

Due to regulations limiting the Premier League’s summer transfer window to 12 weeks, a five-day pause has been introduced to extend it until September 1. On the other hand, FIFA has designated two registration periods for new signings ahead of the Club World Cup between June 1-10 for the group stage and June 27 and July 3 for the knockout rounds.

Reason behind changes

In 2024, the Premier League’s initial transfer window ran from June 14 to August 30. However, FIFA approved an additional registration period from June 1-10 exclusively for the 32 clubs competing in the newly expanded Club World Cup, allowing them to sign players before the tournament begins. A second registration period from June 27 to July 3 was also introduced for teams advancing to the knockout stage.

The adjustments to the Premier League’s transfer window stem from FIFA’s global registration rules, which limit any country’s transfer windows to a total of 16 weeks in a calendar year. Traditionally, four weeks are allocated to the winter window, leaving 12 weeks for summer business.

To maintain fairness among all 20 Premier League clubs, the league has adopted the same structure for City and Chelsea, aligning with the additional FIFA-sanctioned windows. However, this posed a scheduling challenge as a 12-week summer window starting from June 1 would end on August 24. Since Europe’s top leagues prefer closing their windows at the end of August, the Premier League opted for a temporary closure and reopening to stay in sync with its continental counterparts. 

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