Premier League 'approve' major transfer window change that could have seen Leeds United keep Georginio Rutter
Leeds United left it late this summer but might not be afforded the same opportunity next year.
Leeds United could soon experience a major change in the summer transfer window with reports suggesting the Premier League is keen to ensure it closes before their season kicks off.
The summer transfer window has traditionally closed at the end of August, meaning teams can still trade players once competitive football is underway. By the time this year’s August 30 deadline arrived, Leeds had already played four times while most Premier League teams had played twice.
The extension of the window means teams are at risk of losing key players, having spent the entire summer working with them, while focus is supposed to be on the pitch. Leeds fell victim to that exact issue last month, with Brighton and Hove Albion activating Georginio Rutter’s £40million release clause a few hours after the Carabao Cup defeat against Middlesbrough.
In a bid to curb this issue, The Mirror reports that the Premier League and other European leagues have joined ranks to ensure next summer’s window closes earlier. Executives of the European Club Association (ECA), which represents clubs from England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France, are planning for the 2025 summer window to close on August 15 - 24 hours before the Premier League starts.
A similar proposal was in place for this summer but Barcelona’s need for late transfers saw it collapse. Chris Woerts, a prominent figure in European football, has called for an earlier deadline and insists there is growing support.
“The clubs are working hard to get the decision made on this within the entire ECA,” Woerts told The Mirror. “Next year the transfer window must close on August 15, before the leagues kick off. Everyone is getting frustrated and annoyed by the fact that players are still being sold for weeks while the competitions have started.
“One major club in Spain caused a problem so it couldn’t happen this year. That was FC Barcelona. Because of all their financial problems they were not able to make moves on the transfer market until a very late stage. So they broke the pact of the ‘Big Five’.”
The proposed new deadline would still see next summer’s transfer window close once the Championship season had begun, but there will only be one week rather than almost four. Leeds will hope to be in the Premier League by that point but will be affected by the change regardless.
The Whites completed plenty of business after starting the 2024/25 campaign, with Georginio leaving while four first-team players arrived. Largie Ramazani was signed on August 22 with Manor Solomon, Ao Tanaka and Isaac Schmidt following before the August 30 deadline.