When does the 2024 summer transfer window open?

Fans, managers and club executives fall for it every other year. In a summer graced by an international tournament, the players that light up the competition invariably command moves that would have seemed incomprehensible a few weeks earlier.

Even Manchester United's legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson has succumbed to the hype. "I was always wary of buying players on the back of good tournament performances," said the man who signed Karol Poborsky after Euro '96. "Sometimes, players get themselves motivated and prepared for World Cups and European Championships and, after that, there can be a levelling-off."

Both halves of the hemisphere have a continental competition to enjoy this summer, with Euro 2024 overlapping with its South American equivalent, the Copa America.

Here's everything you need to know about when the transfer window opens this summer, allowing clubs to get sucked in by a handful of promising performances.

When does the 2024 summer transfer window open?

No dates have been set in stone for the upcoming summer window just yet. However, the transfer dates follow a familiar pattern. Last year, the Premier League opened the summer window two-and-a-half weeks after the domestic campaign ended, sanctioning any moves between 14 June and 1 September.

The Premier League's European counterparts waited until July (aside from Ligue 1, which let the spending commence from 10 June) but everyone ensured that the window slammed shut on the same day in September. As the Premier League revealed in a statement, the synced calendars were agreed upon "to ensure harmonisation".

However, the Saudi Pro League weren't involved in those discussions. Only England's top flight spent more than the Kingdom's clubs last summer during a window which stretched until 7 September, one week later than standard practice on the continent.

Jurgen Klopp will have left his post as Liverpool manager by the time the window opens but was deeply unhappy with the Saudi schedule last summer. "UEFA or FIFA must find solutions for that," he growled. It remains to be seen whether Klopp's gripes have been addressed.

2024 summer transfer window dates

Date window opens based on 2023 summer transfer window, with 2024 dates still to be confirmed.

Which players could move in the summer?

Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis took great pleasure in emphatically turning down any offer that came in for his star striker Victor Osimhen last summer. In response to an audacious bid of €200m from Saudi side Al Hilal, De Laurentiis reportedly claimed that would be enough to buy just one of Osimhen's feet. It would take a fee of €500m for the Napoli chief to consider selling Serie A's top scorer. And only then, that was a maybe.

Yet, during a season which has seen Napoli's title defence crumble and the relationship between the club and Osimhen sour after a boneheaded social media post criticising the striker, De Laurentiis' stance has changed.

A defeated De Laurentiis revealed Osimhen would leave Napoli this summer, citing "Real Madrid, PSG or a Premier League club" as his potential destinations.

Madrid may not have the investment - or interest - necessary to trigger Osimhen's release clause if they finally end their pursuit of Kylian Mbappe. The Paris Saint-Germain superstar is out of contract in the summer and has been the obsession of Madrid president Florentino Perez for years. After reneging on a deal that seemed to have been sewn up in 2022, it's best to wait until the window opens and Mbappe poses with the famous white kit before considering the saga closed.

Perhaps the last pre-Mbappe iteration of Madrid has been pushed in the La Liga title race by surprise package Girona. The Catalan club are part of the City Football Group but the stars of Michel's fluid side may not necessarily head straight to Manchester. Barcelona have been sniffing around Aleix Garcia for months and Miguel Gutierrez would be a brilliant buy for any club in search of an inverting left-back.

Free-scoring Artem Dovbyk is also a hot property and may figure in Chelsea's long list of striker targets. Brentford's Ivan Toney stayed at the Bees during the winter window - despite some clunky statements - but may get the move away he's been angling for this summer.

• 10 transfer sagas we expect to see in the 2024 summer window

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