MAURICIO Pellegrino insists it is "good news for everybody" that Premier League clubs have agreed to close the summer transfer window the day before the start of the 2018-19 season.

The decision means clubs will not be allowed to register any new players after 5pm on the Thursday before the season-opener.

The vote at a meeting of top-flight clubs on Thursday, which was not unanimous, followed weeks of debate about the uncertainty caused to managers and players by three weeks of transfer activity and speculation at the start of a new campaign.

Pellegrino is happy with the deadline change.

He said: “For me it’s good decision. Not just for me but for everybody. It’s not easy for the players, the directors, even the clubs and agents to be focussed 100 per cent on the competition.

“After three games to be talking about movement, possibilities to leave the club – everybody is under anxiety in this moment because you are scared that ‘oh we cannot lose this type of player’.

“For me it’s good news for everybody.”

The fact that ex-Saint Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Liverpool only five days after playing for Arsenal in a 4-0 defeat at Anfield was raised as an example of the extended window's potential threat to the integrity of the league.

Not every club has been convinced of this argument, though, with several understood to be concerned about closing the window much earlier than other European leagues.

At the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester on Wednesday, La Liga president Javier Tebas made it clear he did not think starting a season with the window still open was a major issue for his clubs.

The decision means Premier League clubs will be unable to replace players they lose to foreign teams in the last few weeks of the window.

As a result, the 2018 decision is likely to be a trial which can be reviewed before the 2019/20 season.