The transfer window is entering week of organised chaos – and Premier League clubs absentmindedly voted for it

14 of the 20 clubs voted for this, but did they really think it through?

In the last few weeks, one Premier League club were trying to negotiate what would be a relatively high-profile purchase from a foreign counterpart, only for the deal to repeatedly fall down when it got to price. The officials at the other end were completely unmoving on their valuation, because they knew the English side had so little room to manoeuvre themselves. The Premier League have to get any deals done by Thursday, so have lost a lot of leverage, and a lot of breathing space.

It is one of many complications that has arisen from what may be the most short-term and reactionary decision the modern Premier League has taken, given that it has created what is by far the single biggest issue ahead of the new season: the early closure of the transfer window. So many clubs just will not be ready in the way they'd like, because they were not prepared for a decision taken a year ago.

It is all the more “crazy” - the specific word used by many individuals involved - because it really all stems from relatively mild irritation at one single issue from last summer.

Back in the first week of September 2017, 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs at the time voted to close the window early this year, and they essentially did so because they had just come out of a situation where certain high-profile moves - specifically Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from an Arsenal that had just lost 4-0 to Liverpool - had created a bit of a distraction around the first few games. That was it.

“Those were the issues most of the clubs arguing in favour were using, that once the season has started we should know that we can’t possibly sell to another Premier League club,” chairman Richard Scudamore said at the time. “I think they just decided: ‘We’re going to break for the border, go it alone, put our marker down, go with it.’

“When the 20 are playing each other [it was wrong] you could have a person in your team one week and be playing against him the next, or worse the player not playing because of speculation about him going to another Premier League team so he’s not available for a week or two of the season while the window is open.”

Yet it’s really difficult to see how that is more desirable than the situation many clubs could well have this season, where their managers could have nothing close to their planned squad available to them; where they’re a lot shorter than they should be.

That is the biggest problem. As one figure already involved in some deals this summer told The Independent: “a lot less business is going to be done, because there’s a lot less time, and the worst thing is it was all so obvious.”

There a number of other reasons the decision beggared belief at the time, and not just because it afforded such a negotiation advantage to foreign clubs with their windows still open, or the fact the first window after the vote involved a World Cup.

For example, if the buying clubs were having such trouble getting these “distracting” deals done in extended windows, did they really think shortening the timeframe would make it easier? And what of the clubs with wantaway players? Since so many of the previous problems came from them digging their heels in when negotiating, what did they think shortening the timeframe was going to do? There’s a possibility it just puts a decision off, since it will close the window before bringing any situation to a head, and may just see a wantaway player kept for an extra few months.

And this is the entire problem. It is a cosmetic solution, that doesn’t tackle the core issues it was supposed to, but instead creates a multitude of other complications.

Riyad Mahrez is unveiled as a Manchester City player (PA)

Not for the first time, the biggest club put the biggest light on this, and best illustrate some of the complications.

Manchester United were actually one of five clubs - along with Manchester City, Crystal Palace, Watford and Swansea City - to rightly vote against closing the window early, although that was against the wishes of Jose Mourinho who said he would “prefer the window to close as soon as possible”.

Except it’s difficult not to think that the Portuguese’s own opinion was equally influenced by his frustrations of the time, specifically executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward’s perceived slowness in getting deals done.

Shortening a timeframe just puts people under more pressure, however, and doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll change their fundamental approach to the job.

Jose Mourinho is understood to be at odds with his board over transfers (Getty)

Hence, here are United and Mourinho again, facing exactly the frustrations they did last window - but now with less scope to for those frustrations to be eased. The Portuguese would ideally want to sell up to five players, and bring in that experienced centre-half and right-winger - with a midfielder a real bonus. As it stands, United probably only have the time to maybe sell one more, and get that defender, with many club sources still maintaining it will still be Toby Alderweireld - but that it’s likely to go right to the wire.

The pursuit of that centre-half highlights a few other complications with the prematurely closed window. Leicester City are in a position where they can set a price of £70m on alternative Harry Maguire, who will now at least have his head turned, while sources close to the Barcelona hierarchy say they see United’s need in the immediate wake of a good individual World Cup as the chance to offload Yerry Mina for much more money than they might otherwise get.

Then there’s Alderweireld’s club Tottenham Hotspur, who are another of those enduring a particularly slow window when everything should be speeded up. There are many around the club who maintain they will only buy after they sell, but they still want to do both and - if true - the shorter timeframe has so far essentially weakened Daniel Levy’s usually successful approach. It makes the Spurs squad even more hostage to the window closing early, and means they are more dependent on other clubs’ willingness to blink.

It all just creates one grand stand-off, but where the walls are closing in - and that will panic a few.

It might mean we see a lot of chaos over the next week, but not necessarily a lot of closed deals; a lot of scrabbling and left-field bids and enquiries, but not really clubs doing business in the manner they would see as ideal.

This is another issue the window has highlighted: how well certain clubs are run, how prepared they were for this situation. Liverpool, Wolves and Fulham stand out here, although the ground is set to move a lot of over the next seven days.

Either way, it surely means many will be in favour of running the window along different guidelines next time.