A former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur director of football predicts that only three Premier League clubs will be able to spend money on transfers this summer.
Damien Comolli, who spent three years at Spurs and two years at Anfield, believes there will be huge changes to the transfer market due to the coronavirus outbreak.
He forecasts more swap deals and loan moves as clubs struggle to make ends meet amid a lack of match-day income and television money.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed earlier this month that Manchester United will be active in the transfer market this summer, but Comolli predicts that few others will be able to join them.
“An agent was telling me the other day, that there are actually only three clubs in the Premier League will be able to spend money next summer in the transfer window," Comolli told Sky Sports News.
"I don't know if this is correct but usually when agents tell you things like this, they usually get intel.
"We might see very little transfer activity, we might see swaps, we might see loans and I think we are going to see a massive decrease in transfer fees and transfer activity, at least transfers involving money.
"The longer this crisis goes on, more clubs are going to be in a financially difficult situation. The first thing that will be impacted will be player remuneration, the second thing will be transfer fees.”
Comolli also believes that matches should resume behind closed doors when it is safe to do so, as fans may not return to stadiums until 2021.
"There are millions of fans who cannot come into stadiums and will be happy to have something else - at night or during the day - to think about, away from the virus and all the issues they've got to think about," he added.
"I think having football on TV would be a positive, personally. I wouldn't be surprised if we can't play without any fans until the end of 2020 - not just the end of this season.
“People say we shouldn't be playing behind closed doors to finish this season, but what about next season."
