The 2017 summer transfer window will not open on July 1st. That traditional date is apparently no longer the working date for the Premier League. The date is now June 10, but clubs are able to announce deals before then.
With the 2016/17 Premier League finished, the summer transfer window is now open, with clubs able to announce deals that will, in the case of those from outside England, be ratified from 10 June, 2017. This summer's window will close on 31 August.
-source: Premier League
Some teams are not wasting any time. Newcastle have already signed Christian Atsu and West Ham have snapped up Pablo Zabaleta on a free transfer for example. But the big news is that Manchester City have stolen a beat on all their English and European rivals by signing the highly coveted Bernardo Silva from AS Monaco (in what could open the floodgates for all the exciting young players to leave the French champions). The transfer fee is undisclosed, but reported to be €50m.
Very happy to have now signed for @ManCity !
— Bernardo Silva (@BernardoCSilva) May 26, 2017
I hope to make all the fans proud and together win many many titles
⚽️ pic.twitter.com/N8q3d4neEF
While City and most of the rest of the top six are all expected to splash the cash this summer, the rest are now playing catch-up.
As far as Chelsea are concerned, most of our attention is still on the actual football, with the FA Cup final coming up tomorrow, though as Conte reassured in Friday’s press-conference, there’s work going on behind the scenes already.
“We have to finish this season, but we started to work for next season. I think we have the same point of view. For sure we will try to improve next season our squad. We have to face an important competition in the Champions League, the club and me have the same point of view.”
-Antonio Conte; source: Football.London
Silva’s teammate Tiemoué Bakayoko is thought to be high on Chelsea’s shortlist, as is our former protégé Romelu Lukaku, and maybe a defender or two as well. With the added challenge of Champions League football coming up, Chelsea seem determined not to repeat the mistakes of the 2015 transfer window, we can rest assured.
So, don’t panic. Congrats to Bernardo for his big move. Maybe he can play defense for them?