Transfers: the 2015 summer market opens on 09/06 in France (ENG: 10/06; GER, ITA and ESP: 01/07)

Within the countries of the European Top 5 leagues, France is where the 2015 summer transfer market opens first on Tuesday 09/06/2015. In England, the summer transfer period begins on 10/06/2015, while in Germany, Spain and Italy, it opens on 01/07/2015. This 2015 summer transfer market window will close on Monday 31/08/2015 in these Top 5 countries, with the exception of England (window closes on Tuesday 01/09/2015).

The 2015 summer transfer period is marked by two elements:

• The prohibition of ownership of players by third parties (or "TPO", for Third Party Ownership), a practice widely used in Spain and Portugal, to sign new player contracts. FIFA has banned this practice as of 01/05/2015.

• The recruitment ban levied against FC Barcelona, found guilty by FIFA and the CAS of a violation of Article 19 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, regarding ten minor-age players who played in competitions under the auspices of club between 2009 and 2013.

• FC Barcelona spent nearly €157m in recruiting new players during the 2014 summer transfer market.

€2.27bn…