With Monday February 2, 2026 marking the shutting of the January transfer window and the last chance for clubs to strengthen in the 2025-26 season, teams across Europe will be busy trying to get final additions and reinforcements through the door for the final months of the campaign.
While the window is set to close at 7:00pm in the UK, clubs can overcome time-consuming negotiations and ironing out of deals through the use of deal sheets.
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What is a deal sheet?
A deal is a formal document submitted by clubs to their relevant footballing authorities before a transfer window deadline, advising that a transfer deal between two clubs has been completed in principle but cannot be fully completed in time.
If submitted correctly and in time, the deal sheet gives the clubs extra time after the deadline to finalise the administrative steps of the transfer.
Why do clubs use deal sheets?
Clubs use deal sheets to avoid missing out on transfers when negotiations run late and would otherwise rule out completion due to lengthy administration time. These are useful for clubs when transfers are agreed late on deadline day, late complications slow down formal registration or paperwork, medicals or international clearance are ongoing as the window shuts.
How does a deal sheet work?
Before the transfer window shuts, both clubs involved in an agreed deal in principle must submit deal sheets to the relevant authorities, confirming the key terms of the deal and the intention to complete.
If submitted correctly and received by the league and authorities before the deadline, clubs are granted an extension, typically two more hours, to complete all administrative work and submit full transfer documentation including registration forms and contracts.
Provided all steps are completed correctly, the transfer can go ahead despite the passing of the original deadline before the submission of final documents.
Can a transfer still fall through after a deal sheet has been submitted?
Yes, submitting a deal sheet does not guarantee a transfer will go through. While it does provide an extension for the administrative work involved in a deal agreed in principle before the deadline, deals can still collapse in the final stages within the extension.
Indeed, such deals still face the same hurdles as those completed before the deadline and can fall through if medicals are failed, international clearance is not received or if parties fail to agree on personal terms.
Collapses can also occur if errors are discovered in paperwork, or if the full documentation is not then completed within the granted extension, in which case the transfer is voided and the player does not move.
What does a deal sheet not allow?
Deal sheets are simply extensions for the administrative work on deals already agreed between clubs and do not allow additional privileges or permissions for clubs involved.
The sheet does not allow clubs to begin new negotiations, only finalise those all but sealed before the deadline, and does not extend the window indefinitely – instead allowing two more hours to finalise documentation.
Clubs are also unable to bypass medicals, work permits or international clearance with the sheet, which does not guarantee a completed deal.
Famous deal sheet examples
Deal sheets have become increasingly more common in recent years and are linked with a long list of high-profile transfers, both those that completed thanks to the extension and those that fell through anyway.
In the summer of 2024, deal sheets were used for the loan transfers of Jadon Sancho from Manchester United to Chelsea and Raheem Sterling from Chelsea to Arsenal.
Brentford also used a deal sheet in Reiss Nelson on loan from Arsenal late on deadline day at the beginning of September 2025.
They are not all success stories, though, with a deal sheet not enough to get Liverpool's pursuit of then-Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi over the line in September 2025, while paperwork delays involved in a deal sheet extension were infamous during David De Gea's failed move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2015.
