The Italian transfer window closed on 1 September 2026 at 20:00. On 3 September Lazio announced the permanent transfer of Alessio Romagnoli to Al Sadd, and on the 4th Torino announced two departures: Alberto Paleari to AEK Larnaca on a permanent deal and Faustino Anjorin to Göztepe on loan with an option to buy. Three deals in two days, all after the gong, all perfectly regular. The reason is simple, and the consequence for the selling club is much less so.
The three departures
| Player | From | To | Type | Date of statement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alessio Romagnoli | Lazio | Al Sadd (Qatar) | Permanent | 3 September 2026, 22:22 |
| Alberto Paleari | Torino | AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) | Permanent | 4 September 2026, 21:38 |
| Faustino Anjorin | Torino | Göztepe (Turkey) | Loan with option to buy | 4 September 2026 |
The Lazio statement is one line: “La S.S. Lazio comunica la cessione definitiva del calciatore Alessio Romagnoli all’Al Sadd Sports Club”. Torino’s on Paleari is built the same way: “Il Torino Football Club comunica di aver ceduto all’AEK Larnaca, a titolo definitivo, il diritto alle prestazioni sportive del calciatore Alberto Paleari”. Neither declares a fee.
The window that counts is the buyer’s
When a player moves from an Italian club to a foreign one, the registration does not happen in Italy: it happens in the destination country. The Italian federation records an exit, not an entry, and it is the rules of the receiving federation that determine whether that registration is possible. Göztepe announced Anjorin on 4 September, which was the final day of the Turkish window; AEK Larnaca and Al Sadd registered their new players inside windows that were in turn still open.
On the exact closing dates of the Cypriot and Qatari markets in 2026, one honest thing has to be said: we were not able to verify them against an up-to-date official source. The only Cypriot federation page setting 15 September as the deadline dates from June 2020, and does not apply to this year. What can be said with certainty is that those windows were open, because otherwise the registration could not have been completed: that is a deduction from the rule, not a date we read.
Point 9 of the Italian circular, which writes the exception down in black and white
The interesting part is that the Italian rules do not merely tolerate these cases: they anticipate them. Circular 235/A of the Italian FA, published on 27 May 2026, establishes that for Serie A and Serie B clubs the termination of a loan agreement is filed between 29 June and 1 September at 20:00, and then adds a precise exception: those deadlines do not apply in “cases in which such termination is conditional on the consequent transfer of the player to a club affiliated to a foreign federation whose transfer period has not ended”. In those cases, the text continues, “the approval of the termination will be tied to the finalisation of the player’s transfer to the foreign federation”.
The same wording appears at point 10 for the right of withdrawal from a loan. The federal lawmaker, in other words, knew perfectly well that a player on loan in Italy may be useful to a foreign club after 1 September, and wrote the door in rather than leaving it ajar. With one detail worth noticing: the Italian approval follows the foreign transfer, it does not precede it. If the transfer falls through, nothing has happened.
The door swings one way only
Here comes the part that weighs on the pitch. An Italian club that sells a player abroad on 4 September cannot replace him by buying someone else, because buying would require the Italian window, and that is shut until 2 January 2027.
The only moves left are on free agents, and even there circular 235/A separates two cases with different rules: players out of contract on or before 30 June 2026 can be registered until 31 March 2027 with no numerical cap, while those who became free from 1 July onwards fall under point 12, with a maximum of two players per club and a window running from 2 September to 22 December.
Put bluntly: you can lighten a squad, not rebuild it. Every departure in these days is a one-way decision until January.
The goalkeeper case
Paleari’s exit is the one that illustrates the point best. Torino sold on a permanent deal a goalkeeper who in the previous season had become the team’s first choice, as the Turin press recalls, and did so with the window shut. According to squad lists published by specialist outlets, Franco Israel and Diego Mascardi remain, but the club did not publish an updated squad alongside the statement, so that figure is a press reconstruction.
A club that goes down to two recognised goalkeepers before mid-September accepts a risk it can no longer cover on the market: if one of the two gets injured in October, the only route is a goalkeeper without a contract, which means whatever the free agent market happens to offer at that moment, not what would be needed. It is exactly the sort of choice a balance sheet encourages and a pitch punishes, and it will be interesting to revisit in December.
What to expect in the coming weeks
For as long as windows outside the big European leagues stay open, departures from Italy will continue. Brazil closes on 11 September according to dates reported by specialist outlets, and other Asian and South American leagues run their own calendars.
For anyone following Serie A, the practical rule to remember is a single one: between now and January, any transfer news involving an Italian club can only be a departure or a free agent. Everything else, for four months, is not possible.
Sources: official statements from S.S. Lazio (3 September 2026) and Torino Football Club (4 September 2026) as published and relayed by newsrooms; Göztepe announcement of 4 September 2026; Italian FA circular 235/A of 27 May 2026, annex A, points 5, 9, 10 and 12; TFF for the closing of the Turkish window on 4 September 2026. The closing dates of the Cypriot and Qatari windows were not verified against an up-to-date official source and are therefore not stated.
Frequently asked questions
If the Italian window shut on 1 September, how can Torino sell two players on the 4th?
Because in a sale abroad the window that matters is the one belonging to the federation that has to register the player, not the one losing him. The Italian club registers no new player: the buying club does, and it does so inside its own window.
Does the Italian rulebook cover this explicitly?
Yes. Circular 235/A of the Italian FA states, at points 9 and 10, that terminating a loan and exercising a withdrawal right must be filed within the Italian window, with one exception: cases in which the operation is conditional on the player transferring to a club affiliated to a foreign federation whose transfer period has not ended. In those cases the approval remains tied to the completion of the transfer abroad.
Which departures were announced in these days?
Lazio announced the permanent transfer of Alessio Romagnoli to Al Sadd on 3 September. Torino announced the permanent transfer of Alberto Paleari to AEK Larnaca and the loan with an option to buy of Faustino Anjorin to Göztepe, both on 4 September, the last day of the Turkish window.
Can an Italian club selling now buy a replacement?
Not through a transfer. It can only register players without a contract: those already free on 30 June 2026 until 31 March 2027, and at most two players who became free after 1 July, between 2 September and 22 December. Transfers between clubs reopen on 2 January 2027.
Why would a club sell knowing it cannot replace?
For three reasons that often act together: freeing up a wage, banking a fee within the current financial year, and giving minutes to a player who would not get them at home. None of the three concerns the pitch in the short term, and all three weigh on a balance sheet or on a career.
How many goalkeepers does Torino have left?
According to squad lists published by specialist outlets, after Paleari's departure Franco Israel and Diego Mascardi remain. The club did not publish an updated squad alongside the statement, so that figure should be read as a press reconstruction and not as official data.
