- City and Chelsea get extra transfer windows before the Club World Cup
- Players can be registered before and during the tournament
- Semi-automated offside tech could debut in April
The Premier League has announced two transfer windows this summer to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to sign players ahead of the Club World Cup. The first window will open from Sunday, June 1 to Tuesday, June 10, followed by a five-day break before the second window runs from Monday, June 16 to Monday, September 1.
This summer marks the debut of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which will feature 32 teams and follow a format similar to the FIFA World Cup. Chelsea and Manchester City will represent the Premier League in the tournament, which will take place in the United States starting on Sunday, June 15. However, due to the Premier League’s 12-week summer transfer window limit, a five-day break is required to allow the window to close by September 1.
FIFA has granted permission for clubs to register new players for the Club World Cup between June 1-10 and again between June 27-July 3 for the knockout stage.
Why is this happening?
FIFA limits the transfer window to 16 weeks annually, with four weeks allocated for the winter window and the remaining 12 weeks for the summer. In 2024, the Premier League window will open on June 14 and close on August 30. However, FIFA approved an additional window from June 1-10, allowing the 32 teams in the Club World Cup to register new players before the tournament starts. Another window will open from June 27 to July 3 for clubs to register players for the knockout phase.
In addition to Manchester City and Chelsea, other prominent clubs like Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal will also compete in the tournament.
To ensure Manchester City and Chelsea don’t gain an unfair advantage, the Premier League has aligned its window with the new FIFA rules. However, this creates a scheduling issue, as 12 weeks from June 1 would push the window’s end date to August 24, whereas European leagues prefer to close their windows at the end of August, necessitating the break.
What are the issues?
The timing of the transfer windows presents several challenges. The Champions League final will take place on May 31, followed by Nations League semi-finals and finals and World Cup qualifying matches from June 6-10. As a result, players might be negotiating transfers before these important fixtures, which could impact international players moving to clubs in the Club World Cup.
Take, for example, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kevin De Bruyne. Both are key international players who could be called up for June’s matches. However, both are out of contract with Liverpool and Manchester City, respectively, on June 30. Alexander-Arnold, who is not involved in the Club World Cup, is expected to join Real Madrid, which is participating. The question is whether Real Madrid will reach an agreement with Liverpool to trigger Alexander-Arnold’s release early so he can fully participate, or if they’ll wait until after June 30 and add him to the squad for the knockout stage.
For Manchester City’s De Bruyne, as the club is involved in the tournament, he could play in the group stage but wouldn’t be eligible for the knockout phase unless he extends his contract or signs a short-term deal. If he moves to another Club World Cup team, he may face the same situation as Alexander-Arnold.
FIFA has adjusted its rules to allow clubs to sign players solely for the duration of the tournament, although this scenario is unlikely for either Manchester City or Chelsea.
Semi-automated offsides might be introduced next month
Semi-automated offside technology could be introduced in the Premier League as early as April. It was trialed during the FA Cup fifth round and will be tested again during this weekend’s quarter-final matches at Premier League stadiums. Initially planned for an October or November rollout, the introduction of the system has been delayed due to technical issues. If there are no problems during the FA Cup trials, it will be implemented in the Premier League next week.
The new system aims to make offside decisions faster and more accurate by automating key parts of the process. Bespoke cameras have been installed at all 20 Premier League stadiums. During the last FA Cup round, a record eight-minute VAR stoppage occurred during Bournemouth’s win over Wolves, as the new system couldn’t be used due to a congested penalty area.
