The winter transfer window is the second period when clubs have the chance to make alterations to their squads, buying, selling or loaning players.
The winter transfer window is the second period during a season when clubs have the chance to make alterations to their squads and register new players. Transfer windows were introduced to bring football in line with other areas of the labour market where contracts are not enforceable, allowing players to move at predetermined times of the year.
Shorter transfer window
While the summer transfer window, the first period when new signings can be made, takes place between July and August, the winter window always takes place in January and lasts for one month. Most clubs prefer to do business over the summer when domestic competition is on hold, players are either on holiday or involved in pre-season training. There is more time to negotiate with agents and other clubs and make sure deals go through properly and any new recruits can be registered with the league in good time.
However, a lot can happen in football during the four months between September and December. The usual reason why some clubs might want to do business in the January window is when a member of the squad suffers an injury which could keep them out for a considerable length of time. If a player is injured in November and expected to be out for two to three months, some clubs might try to find a replacement during the January window although generally there are far less players available on the market during the winter window.
Some clubs may want to tweak their squads but most of the top coaches prefer not to reinforce their team during the January window. Unless it is absolutely necessary, they see no need to bring in a player who is completely new to the squad, midway through the season when they don’t have time to get fully settled in or in some cases, up to pace.
Winter reinforcements who have an effect
Occasionally, it does work out though - one of the best examples was when Barcelona decided to bring in Edgar Davids halfway through the 2003/4 season. Curiously, Barça were in a similar position to where they are now - seventh in the table and 15 points behind Real Madrid. Davids’ incorporation completely revitalised the team. Rijkaard's side amazed everyone by making up the lost ground and finishing as runners-up.
Big name transfers tend to take place in the summer although there are exceptions - some players fall out with coaching staff or team mates and put in a transfer request which can either be accepted or rejected by their clubs. In recent seasons there have been a handful of cases when star players have rejoined another club during the winter transfer window - Philippe Coutinho’s switch from Liverpool to Barcelona in 2018 being one example. That deal had clearly been in the pipeline for some time as it was announced on 6 January and less than a fortnight earlier, Liverpool had agreed terms with Southampton for Virgil van Dijk - knowing that they would have no problem paying the fee as they were guaranteed 160 million euros from the sale of Coutinho.
Bosman transfers
A more common strategy during the winter transfer window - especially since the coronavirus pandemic affected the amount clubs were able to spend, is to negotiate with players who will be coming to the end of their contracts. That is the case with Kylian Mbappé, whose contract with PSG expires in June 2022. From 1 January, his agents can start discussing terms with other clubs - for example, with Real Madrid.
In most of Europe’s major leagues, the January transfer window opens at 00:00 hours on 1 January and closes at midnight on 31 January. In some cases, trading might not start until a couple of days later if the first day of January lands on a weekend. The 2021/22 January transfer window opens on Saturday 1 January 2022 and will close at 6pm ET / 3pm PT on Monday 31 January 2022. Trading in LaLiga and Serie A will start on Monday 3 January as New Year’s Day, a public holiday, falls on a Saturday. In England, the winter window will open on 1 January and close at 11pm GMT on 31 January, which means trading will end at exactly the same time as in central Europe.