EFL set to introduce summer transfer window changes - but how will Leeds United be affected?

The deadline for Championship teams to sign players either permanently or on loan is likely to be set for August 8, in line with the Premier League’s deadline, but sides in the EFL’s bottom two tiers have voted for next season’s window to close on August 31.

Leeds United are fighting to escape the EFL after 15 years outside the Premier League but the Elland Road club will be subject to altered regulations if they fail to win promotion.

The deadline for permanent transfers this season fell in early August but incoming loan deals were permitted until August 31.

Next season, however, all new signings in the Championship will need to be completed before the campaign’s opening weekend.

The EFL’s new structure would still allow fringe players to move out to the lower divisions once business in the Championship was finalised. The plans have already received the support of member clubs and are due to be put to a formal vote next month.

Outgoing chief executive Shaun Harvey, who will leave his post with the EFL at the end of the season, said the move showed “a difference in approach across the Championship and Leagues One and Two.”