The first international transfer window for Chinese soccer in 2023 will close from February 20 to April 10, according to an update from FIFA's Transfer Matching System TMS on February 1, Beijing time. If this arrangement is not adjusted any further, it means that the new Chinese Super League season will begin in mid-to-late April.
At the end of last year, FIFA's TMS system showed that the first international transfer window for Chinese soccer this year would open on January 16th this year. However, just on the 16th, the TMS system updated the relevant information, showing that the opening window will be extended to February 1st. The latest window opening will be further delayed to February 20th.
Generally speaking, the timing of the opening and closing of the transfer window of each association will be set around the competition plan of the national (regional) league. For example, the opening of the transfer window is generally set at 1 to 2 months before the start of the league, while the closing time is scheduled at 1 to 2 weeks before the start of the league, so as to facilitate the clubs to get the necessary time for registration of new recruits and lineup integration after locking in new recruits.
It is important to note that unless the relevant member association submits a special application to FIFA for a window opening, all registered players (including foreign players) of the member associations will complete their transfers between domestic clubs, and the transfer procedures must be executed within the period of the FIFA-approved international transfer window. This is why some Chinese Super League clubs officially announced the introduction of new players around the Chinese New Year, but did not complete the player registration and transfer procedures.
Updates to the TMS system show that the first international transfer window of this year's Chinese soccer will open on February 20 and run until it closes on April 10, which means the Chinese Super League is expected to begin in mid- to late-April. On international match days from March 20 to 28, the Chinese men's soccer team will be invited to play two warm-up matches against New Zealand. While the first training program for the national soccer team has not been announced so far, and the Chinese men's Asian Games team has made it clear that the first training session of the month will be the first of the month, regardless of whether either national team visits New Zealand, its players will be able to get back to their respective music departments in time to have time to work with the team after international matches are over and before the start of the league.
According to a Beijing Youth Daily reporter, the preparatory group of the Chinese Football Association and the Chinese Football Federation has also recently intensified its study of league-related issues. Regarding the progress of clubs' wage arrears and the size of the league at all levels for the new season, the way of registering and transferring players at all levels of the league will be clarified next month.
The TMS system update also shows that the second transfer window period in Chinese soccer this year, the so-called summer transfer window, will be extended from July 1 to August 1, with a closing time of August 31st. Combined with the fact that the winter transfer window of domestic soccer has been delayed twice this year, the possibility that the window time will be further delayed by force majeure factors cannot be ruled out.
