Manchester United have been set a deadline to complete their moves for Eredivisie stars Cody Gakpo and Antony after FIFA rejected a request from the Dutch FA (KNVB) to extend their transfer window's deadline.
The Red Devils have been attempting to boost their attacking options for much of the summer, with a forward player yet to arrive at Old Trafford. New boss Erik ten Hag has been looking close to his old home as he searches for new recruits.
Two of his top targets are Ajax star Antony and PSV Eindhoven winger Gakpo, but the Red Devils will need to speed up their business. That is because due to a blunder by the KNVB, the transfer window for Dutch teams will close a day earlier than the rest of the top leagues.
That will mean that if an Eredivisie side sells a player on the Premier League's deadline day, they will not be able to replace them. The Dutch association were only made aware of their mistake by newspaper Voetbal International and subsequently released a sheepish statement.
"It is true that we have recently found out that there is a difference in the closing date of the transfer window that we use compared to a number of other unions. We keep the date of 31 August and a number of other unions close a day later, on the night of September 1 to 2 September," a KNVB spokesperson said last week.
"We are surprised at this difference in closing date. It is also true that we are still in talks with FIFA to see if we can extend our closing date. Because the transfer window is already running, we expect that it will be difficult to achieve this in the short term."
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But it now appears that those talks have failed, with FIFA refusing to sanction an emergency extension to the Eredivisie transfer deadline. The KNVB have not been left surprised by the rejection, though it remains an embarrassing error.
"As previously communicated, there was little chance that the request would be honoured, because the FIFA regulations prescribe that no more changes can be made when the transfer window is open. Other associations have made a similar request to the KNVB and they have all received a rejection," a KNVB statement said.
As a result of FIFA's rejection, the summer window for Eredivisie clubs to buy players will close on 31 August, as scheduled. Meanwhile, Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A sides will continue to be able to due business until 1 September.
PSV technical director Marcel Brands has openly admitted his concern at the difference in deadline dates. Brands will have to stand firm against any United offer that comes in on deadline day if he is to avoid being unable to replace Gakpo, while Ajax will have to adopt a similar strategy with Antony.
"I hope that this can be repaired as soon as possible. It was already annoying that countries like Turkey and Russia were open longer than the Netherlands, but you don’t want this to also apply to the top leagues. I do find it strange that they are open a day longer. August 31 was always the starting point," he said.
