How Newcastle United, Leeds United & co can get extended transfer deadline amid Paul Dummett links

The January transfer window closes at 11pm tonight, meaning Newcastle United and their Premier League rivals are facing a race against the clock to finalise any transfer dealings. Once that 11pm deadline passes, there will be no further way for clubs to strengthen their squads until the summer window opens at the end of the season.

However, Premier League clubs can gain an extra two hours to conclude any transfers if they have deals that are going down to the wire around 11pm. This can be exercised by clubs submitting a deal sheet. 

These sheets provide details of the impending transfer and confirm that an agreement has been reached, before providing clubs with extra time in which to submit all the required documentation. The details required on this sheet are fairly basic, including the clubs and player involved and fee being paid, if there is one.

Deal sheets cannot be requested until 9pm on transfer deadline day and then must be submitted, fully completed, by 11pm. Once received and approved, clubs can then be granted permission to submit all the required transfer paperwork by a 1am deadline.

Whilst deal sheets have been a staple of transfer windows in previous years - and remain something that Premier League clubs must submit - they are no longer used by the EFL. This would impact Newcastle if they have any players that will move to the Championship, League One or League Two today.

Paul Dummett has been linked with a move to Championship duo Ipswich Town and Leeds United on deadline day, but the pair face a strict deadline to complete a move. Unlike deal sheets which give Premier League clubs an additional two hours to complete deals, EFL clubs must complete negotiations and all the relevant documentation by 11pm. EFL rules state: "In the EFL, all documentation must be provided prior to the deadline closing for the registration of a player to go through."

Still, there is a process called a 'quick application' which can provide EFL clubs with an additional 15 minutes to sign players. Rules state: "If a club is in a ‘Full Application’ at 22:30:00, they will receive a warning that states the system will open a ‘Quick Application’ at 22:45:00, where only certain fields need to be completed.  

"In those last 15 minutes of the Transfer Window, EFL systems allow clubs to submit the necessary registration form without completing the full application process. Where they do this, the clubs then have a further 15 minutes to then complete the full application process. This avoids clubs missing the deadline in circumstances where they have agreed and signed all necessary documents with another club and the player before 11pm, but still need time to complete the full application."

Newcastle United have completed just one signing this month following confirmation of Alfie Harrison’s move from Manchester City earlier today. Javier Manquillo has been their only permanent first-team departure after he joined Celta Vigo earlier in the window to reunite with Rafa Benitez at the Estadio de Balaidos.