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Slavisa Jokanovic tells Fulham to 'show me the money'

REUTERS
REUTERS

Slavisa Jokanovic has challenged Fulham to back him in the transfer window ahead of their return to the Premier League.

The Cottagers secured their return to the top flight after four years in the Championship with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa, Tom Cairney scoring the first-half winner before Jokanovic’s side held firm following Denis Odoi’s red card midway through the second half.

Promotion to the top flight will likely ensure Fulham’s most coveted players, including Cairney and Ryan Sessegnon, stay at Craven Cottage this summer but their manager wants more.

READ MORE: Fulham promotion puts end to ‘three years of suffering’, says Jokanovic

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A January transfer window in which Jokanovic got players with the English experience he wanted - most notably Premier League loanees Aleksandar Mitrovic and Matt Targett - helped propel Fulham’s promotion tilt and the manager expects similar ambition this summer.

“We must know what is ahead of us, the Premier League is the most competitive league and we must be clever,” Jokanovic said. “Now we have finished one important improvement and now we must be clever and make sure it's not one step back.

“We must show the ambition to be a Premier League team. To show the ambition, we're going to need to show the money too.”

The Fulham boss vowed not to change the expansive style that earned the Cottagers promotion, adding: “We believe we can play this way but we must know what characteristics of players we need.

“In general we must try to dominate against some teams that we believe we can dominate against and be realistic. We must know what is our plan and what are the characteristics of the players we need for the future.”