Football writer Ben Bloom on what to expect in the summer transfer windows, the first of which opened on 1 June.
No sooner has a thrilling 2024/25 Premier League season come to an end than attention immediately turns to future endeavours with the opening of the summer transfer window.
Over the next three months, clubs will look to bolster their squads and offload unwanted players.
Here is everything you need to know.
Summer 2025 transfer window
Things look a little different to normal this year due to the first edition of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup.
To accommodate clubs wanting to sign players ahead of that tournament, which begins on 15 June, the transfer window opens early for an exceptional registration period from Sunday 1 June until Tuesday 10 June at 19:00 BST. This applies only to the 20 national associations with clubs playing in the competition, of which England, with Manchester City and Chelsea involved, is one.
This special early opening has allowed Trent Alexander-Arnold to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid in time to feature for the Spanish club in the tournament.
While Manchester City and Chelsea are the only English clubs participating in the Club World Cup, all Premier League teams will be free to sign players during that period.
The window will then shut, before reopening on Monday 16 June and closing on Monday 1 September at 19:00 BST, a slightly earlier time than the traditional 23:00 BST close that has been used.
Where did transfers originate from?
Following the advent of professionalism in English football in the late 19th century, players began formally moving from one club to another.
However, the introduction of the controversial "retain-and-transfer" system in 1893 gave clubs significant power, allowing them to retain a player’s registration – even after expiry of their contract – unless they deemed a compensatory fee to be sufficient.
The transfer fee system became commonplace, with legal cases involving George Eastham (in 1963) and Jean-Marc Bosman (in 1995) helping to give players power to move from one club to another at the expiration of their contracts.
The current system of two transfer windows, summer and winter, was introduced for the 2002/03 season. Prior to that, the Premier League allowed players to move clubs at any time until the end of March.
More on the history of transfers
Transfer limits
Every Premier League club are permitted to register a squad of up to 25 players.
Each squad must contain no more than 17 players who do not fulfil the "Home Grown Player" criteria.
The remainder must be "Home Grown", although Under-21 players do not count towards the 25-player limit.
A "Home Grown Player" is one who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).
To ensure clubs operate within their financial means and avoid excessive losses, all clubs must also adhere to the Premier League’s Rules on cost controls, as laid out in the Premier League Handbook.
Other types of transfer
While payment of a transfer fee from one club to another is the primary route of player movement, there remain alternative methods by which players can switch to new teams.
Thanks in no small part to the efforts of Eastham and Bosman, players become free agents at the expiration of their contract and are able to sign for a new club without payment of any fee.
Most Premier League contracts run until 30 June in a year.
Players can also move from one club to another on loan, called "temporary transfers" for the loan transactions between Premier League clubs.
On occasion, those deals will include an obligation for the club to buy the player at the conclusion of the loan period or if certain playing criteria are met.
The Premier League imposes various loan limits on clubs, including a limit of two registered loaned players from other English clubs at any one time.
Loans from clubs in other countries do not count towards these limits.
Retained and released
Within about a couple of weeks of the 2024/25 season’s conclusion, Premier League clubs must submit their list of players they intend to release from their squads.
The players will be those whose contracts expire on 30 June, although they could remain at that club for the 2025/26 season if a new contract is subsequently agreed.
While the full list is yet to be published, some clubs have already announced which players they are releasing.
Those clubs include Everton (Ashley Young, Asmir Begovic, Joao Virginia and Abdoulaye Doucoure), Manchester United (Christian Eriksen, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof), and West Ham United (Aaron Cresswell, Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal and Danny Ings).
How deals are done
At Premier League level, the vast majority of transfers involve negotiations between the buying and selling clubs, via player agents and other intermediaries.
Given their complex nature, transfers are often not concluded until late in the window.
Should they be required, deal sheets offer a two-hour grace period beyond the transfer deadline for last-minute moves that have not been fully completed.
To register a player, clubs must submit all documentation to the Premier League, who will then determine whether that registration can be confirmed.
Buying and selling clubs can insist upon the fulfilment of various clauses for a transfer to take place, including how fees may be paid.
Managers on summer 2025 transfers
Liverpool
Arne Slot: "I’ve said it many times, it’s not that easy [to strengthen our squad] because this team has won the league. But there are certain players in the world where I think, 'If they would come, it would be nice.' So there are not many that can strengthen us, but the few that are out there, we will try to get them."
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta: "It’s going to be a big one [summer] and we are very excited about it. We want to increase the depth of the squad, but as well, we want to increase the quality and the skills that we need to go to the next step. We have to be very smart with the decisions that we take. Obviously, we need players because the squad is really short, and on top of that we are losing four or five players whose contracts are going to end."
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola: "New faces will come, especially in positions that are a little weaker, but I don’t think much, I don’t think a lot. We have a good squad, they have contracts, they will stay here, and I don’t want to have many players."
Manchester United
Ruben Amorim: "We have a plan that is to bring some new players, of course, but our big plan is to improve the team that we have. It is not going to change so much because we have the FFP [Financial Fair Play] rules, we are not allowed to do much this summer. Without the Champions League, we don’t need a big squad. We can control the squad in a better way."
Which deals have been done?
It is early days for summer transfers, but a number of moves have already been confirmed.
AFC Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen, like Alexander-Arnold, has signed for Real Madrid.
On Friday night, Liverpool confirmed the signing of right-back Jeremie Frimpong from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
Manchester United completed their first signing of the summer on Sunday, bringing in Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Which deals are happening?
Liverpool have reportedly made an offer to sign another Leverkusen player, the attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz.
Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap has been given permission to talk to other clubs following their relegation, with reports suggesting Chelsea have beaten others to his signature after triggering his £30m release clause.
Cunha is reportedly set to join Man Utd, whose captain Bruno Fernandes has been heavily linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal.
Other potential moves that have been mentioned in the media include Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi to Newcastle United, Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to Brentford, and Bournemouth full-back Milos Kerkez to Liverpool.
But during every window there is a lot of speculation around transfers so, until a deal is announced by a club, fans are advised to await this confirmation before getting too excited.
All the confirmed deals, ins and outs, will be published in our Transfer Watch page, presented by Barclays.
