FIFA make huge changes to Manchester City’s summer transfer window plans ahead of Club World Cup return | OneFootball

Manchester City have been subjected to significant changes to their transfer window rules as a result of their participation in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

Pep Guardiola and his players’ maiden success in the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League secured themselves a place in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, simultaneously ensuring their place as one of UEFA’s representatives for the new edition of the competition in 2025.

As opposed to a relatively small-scale tournament, as shown via Manchester City’s involvement in 2023, the new format will follow the model of recent FIFA World Cup competitions for international sides.

32 teams will be split into eight groups of four, with the top two in each group progressing into a Round of 16 where single-match knock-out ties will be played through to the final, with no third-place play off played.

However, there have been plenty of questions centred around the United States’ based tournament, including how it may impact players whose contracts are due to expire immediately before the start of the competition.

As confirmed by FIFA this week, international football’s governing body has now agreed on interim transfer rules aiming to help players change teams and head to the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

The move opens the door for players whose contracts expire on June 30 to sign early as free agents for one of the 32 teams in the tournament, while FIFA’s council also approved interim transfer market rules that give member federations the option of opening a transfer window from June 1-10.

As such, agreements reached between clubs would let players represent a team for two weeks from mid-June, before their formal contract expires, in a tournament that is still part of the ongoing season.

Additionally, those with expiring contracts are able to sign a two-week extension through to the end of the June 15-July 13 event, which could impact Kevin De Bruyne and his expiring contract at Manchester City.

However, new regulations have made clear that a player cannot represent two different teams during the tournament.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will take place from 15 June to 13 July 2025, and as such fall between the conclusion of the 2024/25 season, and the start of the brand new 2025/26 domestic and European campaign.

The tournament will conclude in a showpiece final at New York’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday 13 July 2025, with the 11 other venues for the tournament as follows:

Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte)TQL Stadium (Cincinnati)Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles)Hard Rock Stadium (Miami)GEODIS Park (Nashville)Camping World Stadium (Orlando)Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando)Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)Lumen Field (Seattle)Audi Field (Washington, D.C.).