Deadline Day: What is a transfer deal sheet and how do they work?

There is an extra step clubs must take if their business cuts it fine

Doing deals on Deadline Day can often be tricky business, and sometimes, they can really go down to the wire.

Should a transfer need to be completed in the final two hours of the transfer window , it is mandatory that the clubs invovled fill out a ‘deal sheet’.

This is a form submitted to the Premier League to ensure that the deal can proceed, with the sheet itself showing that an agreement has been reached between the two clubs.

It also gives the two teams more time to submit the relevant paperwork to get the transfer done.

This summer, with the window set to slam shut at 7pm BST today - Monday, September 1 - a deal sheet will be needed for any transfers that are likely to occur during the two-hour period between 5pm BST and 7pm BST.

The deal sheet - if filled out and filed properly - gives clubs two more hours to finalise all the remaining details. In this summer’s case, that will give sides until 9pm BST to get their business done.

Should all documents not be submitted to the Premier League by 9pm BST, the move will not be able to go ahead.

Back in 2023, Enzo Fernandez’s move from Benfica to Chelsea was completed with the submitting of a deal sheet.

In 2024, however, it seemed as though Blackburn Rovers had landed Duncan McGuire from Orlando City, but the Championship club had not handed in a deal sheet to the EFL on time, and the transfer was called off.

Chelsea Enzo Fernandez Blackburn Rovers Duncan McGuire Transfer Rumor Premier League