Football writer Adrian Kajumba explains the history of player transfers, the summer and winter markets and how transfers happen.
What are the origins of player transfers?
The concept of transfers first emerged after The Football Association (FA) legalised professionalism in football in 1885 and introduced a player registration system.
Back then clubs had the power, especially following the Football League’s introduction of the retain-and-transfer system.
From 1893/94 clubs were able to retain a players’ registration as long as they wanted, even after their contract ended, to prevent them moving.
They also did not have to play or pay players they refused to release. Clubs then started to demand fees to transfer registrations.
But George Eastham challenged a system he claimed left players with “virtually no rights at all.”
After Newcastle United refused to let him leave when he requested a transfer in 1959, Eastham went on strike before they backed down and sold him to Arsenal in 1960 for £47,500.
Eastham eventually took the matter to the High Court in 1963 and they agreed the system was a “restraint of trade.”
This landmark victory for Eastham, who died in December, ended footballers being tied to clubs beyond their contracts.
It was key to reforming the British transfer market, improving players’ rights, ability to move and laying the foundations for the negotiations now seen in the modern day game.
Further major transfer reform then followed with the 1995 "Bosman ruling", named after Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman, which allowed players to move for free once their contracts with clubs had expired.
What are the origins of the transfer windows?
The system of two transfer windows was introduced for the 2002/03 season.
Windows were introduced as part of a compromise agreement with the European Commission about the whole transfer system and how it could best preserve contractual stability for both the player and the club, while allowing movement at prescribed times during the year - the summer and winter.
Before that in the Premier League, players could be traded throughout the season up until 31 March. Any later than that, it was felt that allowing transfers could undermine the integrity of competitions.
For example, if a title-chasing team acquired players from a club with nothing to play for towards the end of the season on short-term contracts, it was not something that would be viewed as being in the spirit of a season-long league competition.
Each league and association has limited scope for setting their transfer window dates.
Premier League clubs voted to bring the closure date of the 2018 and 2019 summer windows forward to the day before the season began, for example.
This was earlier than Europe’s other major leagues but decided upon in a bid to reduce disruption once the season started.
Ultimately (Federation Internationale de Football Association) FIFA sets the parameters and if a competition fell too far outside of them, they would leave themselves open to sanction.
Clubs can only buy when their window is open but can sell outside of those dates to clubs in leagues where their transfer window remains open.
Signings can also be announced ahead of being officially registered.
Brighton & Hove Albion did that in December 2024 with Inter Miami midfielder Diego Gomez. He will officially join on 1 January, 2025.
Winger Yang Min-hyeok will join Tottenham Hotspur from the same date and left-back Welington will also arrive at Southampton in January 2025. Both deals were announced in the summer 2024 window.
How do transfers happen?
Once a club identify a player they want to sign from another club, two main agreements are needed between the three principal parties in order for a transfer to be successfully completed.
One between the buying and selling clubs and another between the buying club and player.
Agreement on a players’ transfer fee is most commonly reached following negotiations between the two clubs.
In some cases, though, a buyout clause is written into a players’ contract, simplifying matters between clubs.
Rather than needing club-to-club negotiations to reach a compromise on a players’ value, the figure needed to obtain them is already stated in their contract. This is more common with players bought from overseas.
Where players signed annual contracts following the introduction of The FA’s player registration system in the late 1800s, their deals are now multi-year agreements.
It is also now common for clubs to add an optional year, and sometimes two, on to the end of a contract, allowing them to automatically extend a players' agreement if they wish.
Players contracts are made up of a basic weekly salary, signing-on-fees (a payment for joining) and bonuses. Image rights payments and extra clauses can also be included.
Bonus examples include payments for hitting performance-related milestones such as appearances, goals, clean sheets, wins, international recognition and also players being rewarded for their loyalty by remaining at a club for a set number of years.
Further finer details can also need resolving depending on an individual players' needs.
Past examples have included a club-paid driver or chef for the player, how many flights a year the club pay for a player's family to visit or housing assistance. An agent's fee is another key part of the transfer discussions.
Once all parties have all the details agreed, a player is clear to complete their move, pending the passing of a medical and, where relevant, receiving of a work permit.
Differences between January transfer window and summer one?
The summer window lasts close to three months while the January window lasts just one.
The added time in summer allows clubs to take a more considered approach and they generally conduct the majority of their business in the summer. There is also the advantage of any new signings doing pre-season with their new teams and so attuning themselves quicker.
The winter window, though, offers a safety net. An injection of talent may be needed if the season has not gone to plan or to build on a promising start. Injuries or the wish to support a new manager appointed mid-season are further reasons clubs may enter the January market.
Deals can also be finalised from January involving players entering the last six months of their contracts from another national association.
Due to the Bosman ruling, such players can begin negotiating with foreign clubs from 1 January.
Liverpool’s Steve McManaman was the first, high-profile Premier League player to do so, signing a "pre-contract" with Real Madrid in January 1999 ahead of his summer move to the Spanish giants.
Traditionally, though, fewer immediate deals are done in January. Clubs are reluctant to sell their better players mid-season, especially with the added difficulty of replacing them.
“There is no value” was a mantra of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson about the January window. “People think you’re desperate so ask for more,” he once said.
Trying to integrate players mid-season is another complication.
Players being “cup-tied” after playing in certain knockout competitions for a previous club earlier in the season was once a major consideration but is no longer as big as it once was after the rules for European competitions were relaxed in 2018.
