Premier League set to shut transfer window before start of season

National newspapers say the issue is set to be discussed at a shareholders' meeting in September, with a majority of clubs in favour of shortening the window, which this year closes on August 31.

The move comes amid uncertainty over the future of a number of players, including Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, Everton's Ross Barkley and Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp appeared to lend his support to the idea at a press conference ahead of his side's UEFA Champions League match in Hoffenheim, saying:

His Swansea counterpart Paul Clement, who faces losing Sigurdsson to Everton, has also indicated that Premier League bosses broadly back the change.

"At our managers' meeting at the Premier League last week, we spoke about it,' Clement said over the weekend. "The majority of clubs are in favour but maybe all have to be for it to go through. It could happen next year."

The fact that the transfer window does not close prior to the start of the domestic season is one of the most confusing vagaries of the game.

The move to having two distinct transfer windows has transformed football over the last 15 years, but allowing the summer window to drift on until the end of August has often left teams feeling half-finished at the start of each season, with managers and directors of football hamstrung as they look to balance their squads.

And it often takes a big move to trigger movement in the transfer market, with clubs outside of the elite particularly impacted as they wait for cash and players to be freed up by moves elsewhere.

A change isn't a necessity, but could significantly improve the early stage of each season, so it would be a big surprise if Premier League clubs didn't vote unanimously in favour of the idea in principle.

The only potential stumbling block would be persuading the rest of the European leagues to follow suit.