Fulham head coach Slavisa Jokanovic has welcomed the English football authorities’ move to close the summer transfer window before the start of the season.

The Premier League clubs recently voted to close the August window before the start of the domestic campaign rather than at the end of the calendar month and the English Football League have also backed the plans – with a formal vote of the member clubs scheduled in January. Jokanovic believes that the decision will allow clubs to plan for the new season without the distraction of an open window remaining for the entire month of August.

The Serbian said:

I believe it’s a good idea. If the Premier League made this step it’s logical that the Championship teams do the same thing. At the end I expect we’re going to have the same rules as the Premier League teams,

The Fulham boss is also pleased that a change to the current regulations will allow EFL clubs to loan players after the summer transfer window closes for permanent deals.

I believe this loan rule can bring us more players in for pre-season, I believe we can start working with 90 per cent of the team that we are going to start the Championship with and this is great news. If you start pre-season with one team and in second half of pre-season you are with a second and then at the start of the season you have a third and then you finish the month with a fourth this doesn’t make any sense. At the end I think this is a very good idea and I support this 100 per cent.