The Premier League has finally agreed in principle to introduce video assistant referees next season but discussions over increasing homegrown quotas looks set to continue after clubs indicated they were unwilling to reduce the number of foreign players in the event of any Brexit deal.

Having opted to extend VAR trials in April, clubs were provided with an update at the shareholders’ meeting on Thursday and have decided to proceed. They will formally make a request to the International Football Association Board and Fifa to use VAR next season.

“Key learnings from VAR’s use in the FA and Carabao Cups, and other leagues across the world, were discussed in detail,” said a statement. “The Premier League’s non-live testing programme will remain in place for the rest of this season, with a continued emphasis on those Saturday afternoons which have several matches being played concurrently, and developing a clear protocol for communicating VAR decisions to fans.”

The league also confirmed the summer transfer window will again close before the start of the season in August 2019 despite attempts by several clubs to re-extend the deadline until the end of the month.

However, it was the debate over potential ramifications of Brexit that proved most contentious, with West Ham’s co-chairman David Gold among those to express concern over proposals that could see each 25-man squad limited to only 12 players from overseas – a significant reduction on the current 17 permitted.

“It’s working,” he said. “Why would you change it? We have to do some further investigation and make sure we have all of the details. They are looking into it and we are looking into it. We are very supportive of English football. We want it to be successful. But we don’t want to be doing things that isn’t going to work. We have got to look at the options and look at the evidence.”

Glyn Evans, Watford’s operations director, added: “We want to keep the status quo. It’s a bit like the Brexit negotiations – there’s a bit going on here, a bit going on there. We are not at that position, we are in dialogue with the football authorities. Just look at the government’s Brexit position, you just have to wait and see.

“We will continue to try to sign the best of the best to maintain the Premier League as being the best league in the world, a global British brand that delivers significant revenue to this country. Anyone who is currently here can carry on being here.”