Summer transfer window 2021: When does it open and close?

As the season enters the home straight there's a tendency for us all to get a bit upset as we realise we'll have to go a few months without watching our beloved clubs.

However, a few days later your team usually gets linked with a move for Lionel Messi because someone saw him at the kebab house outside their nan's and suddenly you remember transfer season is almost as much fun as actually watching football.

Tearing apart bizarre rumours but secretly dreaming of them coming true keeps us all entertained as we try to fill the void left by club football, so knowing the ins and outs of the transfer window is key for any fan.

With that in mind, 90min has provided you with a rundown of everything you need to know about this summer's transfer window and all the dates for next season's kick off.

When does the summer transfer window open?

With the 2019/20 season having to be postponed following the coronavirus outbreak, the summer transfer window was pushed back to 27 July.

The Premier League have yet to provide a concrete date for when this summer's window will open, but several club accounts - including Manchester United's - have posted that 9 June is the day marked on their calendars.

That would correlate with FIFA's Transfer Matching System website, which currently has the same open date down for both England and Scotland.

When does the summer transfer window close?

Transfer deadline day is a red letter day in any football fan's calendar, and who could forget West Ham's incredible signing of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano on the final day of the 2006 summer window.

Of course, last summer's deadline day was pushed back to 5 October given the delay in opening the window. This year, it's back to normality for clubs in England. The window will close on 31 August, as it often has done, at 23:00 BST, some 17 days after the 2021/22 Premier League season gets underway.

This date may vary around Europe.

Will be there be an extended transfer window?

With the current campaign managing to gain some semblance of normality - well, in terms of not having a three-month break halfway through it at least - it now looks as if the transfer window will not be extended like it was for 2020/21.

With many players occupied with international duty and clubs struggling to balance the book amid the ongoing pandemic, this transfer window is likely to be one the most difficult ones yet for all involved.

But that won't mean an extension for teams looking to shake things up, they'll just have to work within the parameters that we're so used to seeing.

What happened in the 2021 January transfer window?

When you hear Premier League clubs spent less in the 2021 January transfer window than Liverpool spent on Virgil van Dijk a few years earlier, it probably doesn't take a football fanatic to realise 'not very much' is a fair answer to the above question.

Well, there may not have been many mega-money deals kicking about, but that's not to say managers didn't improve their squad thanks to some shrewd work in the market.

West Ham's capture of Jesse Lingard was definitely the pick of the deals - or so it turned out anyway - while Liverpool moved to ease their defensive injury woes with the loan signing of Ozan Kabak. Ben Davies doesn't deserve a mention before you start moaning.

Manchester United's capture of Amad Diallo for £18.7m (with another £18m in possible add-ons), Said Benrahma's permanent £25m move to the Hammers and Aston Villa's £14m signing of Morgan Sanson from Marseille were the only big-money deals to take place.

With managers forced to work within a tight budget, loan moves dominated the market with Joe Willock, Takumi Minamino and Ainsley Maitland-Niles all shipped out on temporary deals.

When does the Premier League start?

Last but not least the one we all want to know the answer to and the best part is we can actually give you a definitive answer!

The 2021/22 Premier League campaign kicks of on 14 August, while the EFL have confirmed that the Championship, League One and League Two will all start a week earlier on 7 August.

At least we've got the Euros to keep us busy over the summer!