The Premier League transfer window will open early for a brief period in June this summer (Picture: Getty)
The Premier League transfer window at the end of the season will open earlier than usual to allow clubs participating in the Club World Cup to sign players beforehand.
England’s top-flight clubs voted on Thursday to temporarily open the window from June 1-10. The Club World Cup in the United States runs from June 15-July 13.
The traditional window will open on June 16 and close on Sept. 1.
The expanded 32-team Club World Cup features some of the biggest names such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Last October, FIFA agreed on interim transfer rules to help players change teams before the tournament. It opens the door for players whose contracts expire on June 30 to sign early as free agents.
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Theoretically, he would be eligible to play for the Spanish giant in the latter stages of the tournament if he signed a deal before then.
Trent Alexander-Arnold could theoretically now represent Real Madrid at the Club World Cup (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Other high-profile players out of contract at season’s end include Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, as well as Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.
The prospect of Alexander-Arnold representing the Spanish giants earlier than anticipated is only likely to heighten the sense of discontent felt by a large number of Liverpool fans at the right-back impending departure.
‘[On Trent Alexander-Arnold’s potential move to Real Madrid] I always think an international break is a time where every club are getting things in order for the summer and speaking to agents,’ Ex-Reds defender Jamie Carragher told The Overlap. ‘So, it was always going to blow up at some stage.
‘People look at the reaction, but social media is so toxic – ‘He shouldn’t play for the club again,’ or ‘Slot shouldn’t play him’ – people use that now as the barometer of the fan’s feelings, but it’s just a mad place [social media], it’s not what normal [fans think].’
Kevin De Bruyne is also out of contract in the summer (Picture: Getty)
He added: ‘It seems like there’s not one thing people are unhappy with – it’s leaving on a free or that he should have come out and told the club earlier – people are angry for three or four different things.
‘I’m not angry about him going on a free. In an ideal world, Liverpool would get £70m or £80m for him to reinvest, but you can’t have it both ways as a supporter.
‘If Liverpool sign someone on a free in the summer, we’d all be delighted, so does that mean that his former club should absolutely hate him? Also, when you’re a local player you don’t cost anything – Trent going on a free is like Virgil van Dijk leaving for £75m, we’d still break even.
‘Where I’m at is that, as a local player and a Liverpool fan, Liverpool are in a position where they’re competing for the league and a European Cup every year.
‘So, if you’re a Liverpool fan and a local player, I’m just disappointed that he doesn’t think that this is it. I’m putting myself in his position, where I’d be thinking that we could go level with Manchester United in league trophies, I’ve got another seven or eight years at Liverpool and want to get three or four ahead of them, with a couple more European Cups.’