After exactly two months or 61 days, the summer transfer window for the 2024/25 season closed in Germany last Friday evening (31 August) at 8 p.m. As is almost always the case, some transfers were made on deadline day, while others failed in the final stages. The fact that these final decisions were again only made several weeks after the start of the season – Robin Gosens even left Union Berlin just a few hours before the start of the game against FC St. Pauli – is causing trouble.
“This hectic pace of the last two weeks, this unrest that always exists in a team or among players – I would like it if it were over sooner,” complained Simon Rolfes of the reigning German champions Bayer Leverkusen. The sports director had to worry until the end about the loss of defensive leader Jonathan Tah, who had been heavily courted by FC Bayern Munich. In the podcast ‘Spielmacher – Fußball von allen Seiten’ by 360Media Rolfes therefore hoped “that it would be clear earlier, before the first match day, that this is the team we are going into the season with.”
Rolfes is certainly not a trendsetter with these statements, as in recent years some coaches, especially in the English Premier League, have suggested shortening the summer transfer window. In 2018, a closure before the start of the season was even tested, but was rejected after a short time – much to the annoyance of the Leverkusen player. According to Rolfes, most transfers would go through even with a shorter time window and some negotiations would not drag on as long due to the time pressure. “That would be a blessing for everyone,” he said.
In recent years, Bundesliga clubs have repeatedly lost important regular players after the start of the season in the league and DFB Cup, which is why calls for an earlier transfer deadline are becoming louder in Germany. “I don’t think it would change anything if we ended the whole story a month earlier. Then you might have a few weeks in which you can work with your team and then know on the first match day: This is your team,” commented Wolfsburg coach Ralph Hasenhüttl recently.
However, it seems extremely unlikely that the German Football League (DFL) will decide to close the transfer window earlier. This would create a massive competitive disadvantage for German clubs if, for example, they were no longer allowed to make any purchases at the beginning of August, while the transfer window in the rest of Europe is still open and clubs can still strengthen their squads. This would therefore require an earlier closure across Europe, but this would be very difficult to implement.
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