Serie A announced on Monday that the league will follow the English Premier League in closing the summer transfer window before the start of the season.

The dates of the summer transfer window have long been criticised by managers due the disruption it causes at the start of the season. For this reason, the Italian Football Federation have followed the Premier League in moving the date from 31 August to 18 August instead.

Lega Calcio special commissioner Giovanni Malago revealed that the 2018-19 Serie A campaign will begin on 19 August, meaning the transfer window will close 24 hours earlier.

He also revealed that discussions are ongoing and that the dates of the mid-season transfer window could also change to close on 19 January rather than at the end of the month.

‘The 2018-19 Serie A season is to start on August 19 and the Super Cup will be on August 12, with a venue to be confirmed,’ Malago said.

‘In terms of the transfer market, we’ve made important alterations. The summer window will close on August 18, 24 hours prior to the start of the Serie A season. And the same goes for the January window – it’s expected that will close on January 19.’

Now that two of Europe’s top five leagues have changed the dates of their transfer windows, will the remaining three follow their lead?