When does the January transfer window close? Deadline day explained - and if players can be signed after this

Football fans across England will be keeping a close eye on their club's ins and outs during the late stages of the winter transfer window.

The mid-season opening of the transfer market allows Premier League and EFL clubs to take stock of their squads ahead of the all important second half of the campaign.

The opening of the window on 2 January coincided with Germany's Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1, with Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A starting up dealings from 4 January.

There is always plenty of speculation around, and often deals left until the last minute, so when does the window actually close?

When does the January transfer window close?

Though it is well known throughout football as the January transfer window, the period in which clubs can trade players often runs into February - as is the case this year.

The transfer window for English Premier League and English Football League clubs closes at 11pm on Monday 1 February.

Other leagues around Europe also close their transfer windows on the same day as England but at different times.

The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 windows shut at 5pm, Serie A closes its transfer activity at 7pm and La Liga clubs have until 10.59pm.

Scotland closes its window at midnight on the same day.

Can deals be done after this deadline?

Due to the nature of the January transfer window, many transfer deals are done close to the deadline - and sometimes clubs may not announce a transfer until after the deadline has passed.

In order for clubs to keep working on a transfer they must submit a deal sheet to their league confirming a deal has been reached between two clubs, allowing for an additional two hours to get the deal completed.

The deal sheet can be submitted between 9pm and 11pm on the last day of the window - often known as Deadline Day - in order to get the remaining documentation sent over to the league.

Clubs are able to sign free agents after the deadline has passed.

Which deals might happen?

January can often prove a difficult month to get deals done but that doesn't stop clubs from trying to shift players out and bring in that star player to improve the side's fortunes.

Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard is attracting interest from West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli could link up with former boss Mauricio Pochettino at PSG, and Christian Eriksen could be coming back to the Premier League from Inter Milan.

A host of deals have already been done and with plenty of talk around the futures of some of the game's brightest stars there's sure to be a few twists and turns before the window closes on 1 February.

How can I follow it?

Deadline day is fast approaching and you can keep up to date with all the ins and outs as they happen in this live blog.