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Dortmund proposes banning transfers after football season kick-off

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IANS Dortmund

German club Borussia Dortmund's sporting director Hans Joachim Watzke has proposed the closure of the transfer window before the beginning of a football season.

The transfer window is kept open till the end of August each year in the prevalent system whereas a new football season begins in the middle of the month across Europe, reports Efe.

Watzke said on Tuesday that retaining an open window for transfers until the end of August is "irritating," as rich clubs wait until August 30 and 31 with 20 million euros ($22 million) to 50 million euros ($56 million) to turn things upside down.

 

Watzke argued any coach has the right to question the worthiness of pre-season preparations, because squads can lose up to four players and sign different players in replacement.

Watzke's proposal was welcomed by other German clubs, such as Borussia Monchengladbach and Hertha Berlin. But not everyone is keen on the proposal to be implemented with VFL Wolfsburg not toying that line of thought.

Wolfsburg is one of the most affected teams in the just-concluded transfer window, after selling the Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne to English club Manchester City for 75 million euros ($84 million) as well as the Croatian medio Ivan Perisic, who signed with Italian giants Inter Milan for 30 million euros ($33 million).

Wolfsburg, apparently, is not excited about Watzke's proposal as they shocked everyone by signing midfielder Julian Draxler from club Schalke for 35 million euros (around $39 million) late in the transfer window.

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First Published: Sep 02 2015 | 2:48 PM IST

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