The five Premier League clubs that voted against the summer transfer window closing early
The transfer window shuts this Thursday, which is much earlier than usual after Premier League clubs voted to bring it forward, but not everyone was in favour of the early closure
DEADLINE day is looming and so too is the curtain-raiser for the Premier League.
But there were five clubs that were not singing from the same hymn sheet when it came to voting to close the transfer window early.
The transfer window will be shut the day before the season kicks off, which is much earlier than usual.
Historically, the frenzied last day of the window is August 31, several weeks after the start of the Premier League.
But last year there were movers and shakers throughout the first few weeks of the Premier League which caused unrest and calls for change.
And a vote was held to bring deadline day forward so it didn't interfere with the opening games of the season.
A minimum of 14 clubs needed to be in favour of the change for the transfer window to be brought forward - which was the exact number it received.
However, Manchester United, who host Leicester City in the first game on the Friday night, were not among them with Jose Mourinho's side voting against window shutting earlier than usual.
Another big spender in the market who were against the premature closer of the window were their noisy neighbours, Manchester City.
In total five clubs opposed the decision with Crystal Palace, Watford and Swansea joining the Manchester clubs. Burnley abstained.
Five clubs that voted against the early closure of the transfer window
- Crystal Palace
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Watford
- Swansea City
Jose Mourinho has previously voiced his displeasure at the window being open during the opening games, but his club were one of the five that voted against it closing early.
The Portuguese manager said: “As a football manager and not a market man, just as a football man, as someone who wants to work the team and work the players, I would prefer the window to close as soon as possible so everybody knows the players we have.
“The deals would be done earlier and nobody would be waiting for the last week and we would not have the situation that players play game number one for one team and game number two for another.”
However, he may well be eating his words as he has become increasingly frustrated at United's lack of movement in the window and is demanding a bigger war chest.
Manchester City's vote was before their record-breaking season, but they may not be too unhappy at it shutting early this season as they've managed to hold onto a lot of their strong squad.
Pep Guardiola's comfortable win over Chelsea in the Community Shield proved that they're still such a strong side and will no doubt be planning victory domestically as well as challenging for Champions League glory.
Crystal Palace however may still stand firm on their displeasure at the window shutting early, as they've yet to conduct much transfer business.
They've secured Vicente Guaita and Max Meyer on free transfesr and have let a lot of players leave south London, including Chelsea loanee Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
But on the flip side, they may be grateful for the early closure this year- as with only two days to go they stand more chance of holding onto Wilfried Zaha and keeping him out of Chelsea's clutches.
Watford were the fourth side to vote against the early closure, despite their boss at the time wanting everything wrapped up before the season opener.
Marco Silva had said: "It's really important because after we start the season, it's not the best scenario. I'd look to stop before the season."
Silva is no longer at the helm at Vicarage Road, but did ensure they were given a bumper packet when he secured Richarlison's signature - perhaps as an olive branch to repair the relationship between Watford and Everton.
There seems to be several clubs that objected to the early closure who disregarded their manager's.
This was also the case for Swansea City when Paul Clement was in charge, he said: "There's frustration here.
"That's why I think if the window is shut before the season starts everything is sorted out and we can get on with the football."
Despite Swansea seeing Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente sold after the season had started, the club felt that shutting the window early was not good business.
The reason for the vote was because clubs felt it was too distracting for players who were caught up in transfer rumours, or were involved in the thrashing out of deals.
And managers wanted to be able to concentrate on what was happening on the pitch, rather than off, so they could plan their campaign.
The window did open earlier than usual this year, on May 17, to comply with Fifa rules that require it to be open for 12 weeks minimum.
However, it won't stop players being sold, or loaned, to foreign teams as they can complete their business up until August 31.
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