The Premier League today announced that, following a vote, the 2018 summer transfer window will close before the campaign begins.

Managers have grown increasingly disgruntled about the window continuing during the start of the season, as sides look to finalise their business and make a good start to their campaigns.

As a result, the league proposed a change to the deadline, requiring a two-thirds majority to pass the vote.

In what was a hugely tight vote, the clubs elected to move the deadline to 5pm on the Thursday before the 2018/19 campaign begins, securing the necessary 14 names.

The proposal has been hugely controversial, notably because it leaves teams unable to replace any star players signed by other European clubs, as they will still be able to deal until the end of the month.

Five teams voted against the idea - Manchester United and Manchester City the most notable of them, along with Crystal Palace, Watford and Swansea City, while Burnley abstained.

United and City's votes were the most interesting, after their bosses Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have both voiced their desire for the deadline to be brought forward.

When asked during August for his opinion on the matter, Mourinho said it would be in the league's best interests to make a change.

"My opinion is we have to adapt to the situation," he started.

"It doesn’t matter what. But as a football manager and not a market man - just a football man, just as somebody who wants to work with the team, work with the players - I would prefer the window to close as soon as possible.

“So everybody knows the players we have and the deals will be done earlier and nobody would be waiting for the last week and we wouldn’t have the situation of sometimes a player plays game number one for a team and game number two for another team."

The move hasn't yet affected the English Football League sides, though they will hold talks over the matter, as will teams in the Bundesliga, while the Juventus chief executive called it a "wise" decision.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore was confident that other divisions will follow suit before long though.

"The whole process surprised us because we’ve tried to do this before,” he said.

"Clubs have raised this issue every year for the 20 years I’ve been here, ‘Can we not just shut the window before the season starts?’

"But, I think, this time, people were at such a point in their evolution, they just decided, ‘We’re going to break for the border, go it alone, put our marker down, go with it.'

"They are confident enough that they will be able to do our business, do what they do and get ready for the start of the season.”

Scudamore also claimed that one of the main reasons behind the decision was to prevent players from playing for one club one day, then moving to their opponents the next

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain signed for Liverpool from Arsenal on deadline day, having played for the Gunners in a 4-0 defeat at Anfield just four days prior to his move.

"The biggest issue is playing three games where you could be playing against a team where you’re going to sell that player or, ‘So and so’s not playing today because there’s a chance he might be being bought by us next week’", he added.

"From a competition point, that doesn’t seem right and I think the strongest advocates of doing it were that you should make sure your team, your squad, your season is prepared from day one and, therefore, you come out of the block on day one with your players ready and that’s it.

"That’s the people who held that view and they were in the significant majority over those that were against it."