From England to Saudi Arabia: When do the different summer transfer windows close?

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Deadline Day is just around the corner and on September 1 the summer transfer window closes in most major European leagues, but not yet in Saudi Arabia, the country that has spent the second most money worldwide. While Germany (6 pm CET), Italy (8 pm CET), France (11 pm CET), Spain (0 am CET) and England (0 am CET) will close on September 1, some leagues, including Turkey and Belgium, will still be able to sign players for weeks.

Transfermarkt provides an overview of all transfer windows around the world, and looking at the stats, it is noticeable that in the “open until” column, many countries end their transfer periods before or after September 1. This presents difficulties for some clubs. “Pretty much the worst thing I think is that the transfer window in Saudi Arabia is open three weeks longer,” Liverpool head coach Jürgen Klopp said at the beginning of August. The clubs in the Saudi Pro League can sign new players until September 20.

Six months ago, this bothered few club officials in Europe – some €850 million in transfer fees and contracts worth billions later, this date could become a bigger problem. “UEFA or FIFA must find a solution for this,” Klopp said in an interview with German TV channel Sport1. The fact that the Turkish Süper Lig has been using a similar deadline for several years was and is not a problem. This is not about an Istanbul club snatching away a Premier League or La Liga club’s star player but rather about presenting a way out to players who are willing to move on and for whom a transfer to a top league has not worked out.

Two good examples of this in the summer of 2022 were Miralem Pjanic, who moved from Barcelona to Besiktas on loan, and Mauro Icardi, who Galatasaray signed on loan from PSG – both transfers went through after Deadline Day in Europe’s major leagues. While the Süper Lig transfer window is open until September 15 this summer, it is possible for footballers to move to Belgium until September 6. Although not confirmed by officials, it should be clear that thanks to the longer transfer period, these leagues are hoping to sign new players that they would otherwise only get on different terms or not at all.

The Saudi Pro League, in turn, could become a threat to any club that has a big-name player in its ranks. “When Hendo and Fabinho sat in my office and talked to me about it, I knew when I learned more about the modalities that we have practically no chance to to do anything against it,” Klopp said. For footballers who are currently not under contract with a club, the summer transfer deadlines do not matter – they can still move to the Premier League and other competitions after September 1, up to and including January.