Premier League: Clubs still in Europe to get delayed start to next season
- Published
Manchester United have played nine games so far in the 2019-20 Europa League
Premier League clubs involved in the latter stages of European cup competitions will be given a delayed start to the 2020-21 season.
Precise details around the calendar for next season will not be decided until later this month.
But it has already been decided in principle that all clubs should be given a minimum amount of time off.
Manchester City and Chelsea are in the Champions League with Manchester United and Wolves in the Europa League.
A 30-day period has generally been accepted, which would mean any club involved in the 'Final Eight' stages of the Champions League or Europa League will not start their campaigns on 12 September when the new Premier League will begin.
Manchester City take a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid into their Champions League last-16 second leg tie at Etihad Stadium on Friday. Should they reach the final in Lisbon on 23 August, they will miss the first two weekends of the new campaign.
The same is also true for either Manchester United or Wolves, if either were to reach the Europa League final in Cologne on 21 August.
United and Wolves play their last-16 Europa League second-leg ties on Wednesday and Thursday this week. United lead Austrian side LASK 5-0 while Wolves drew 1-1 with Olympiakos in March.
A decision still needs to be made about a delayed start for the teams who get knocked out in last-16 ties this week. This could include Chelsea, who are 3-0 down after the home leg of their tie against Bayern Munich.
While those clubs would have 30 days between their final game and the opening weekend of the season, given the restart comes immediately after an international break, it would severely limit the number of friendlies those clubs could arrange before their first competitive match.
Speaking on Tuesday United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said "Hopefully we will get some help if we go through to the end.
"I'll look after the players, we'll give the players time off to recharge, maybe a couple of weeks."
Solskjaer gave little away when asked about the benefit of getting transfers completed early now the 2020 summer transfer window is open.
Borussia Dortmund have set a 10 August deadline for any club to agree a deal for forward Jadon Sancho - who is United's top summer transfer target.
"This transfer window is a long one and every transfer takes its course," Solskjaer added.
"At the moment, I've got no updates for you. If there's any news, we'll update you."