Slavisa Jokanovic is keen to keep Luca de la Torre in his first-team squad in the hope the youngster can be used during Fulham’s Premier League campaign.
De la Torre – a 20-year-old academy graduate and USA international – has been a long-term loan target for MLS clubs, including New England Revolution.
He has been on the periphery of the Whites first team for a while, however, making five appearances in the Championship last season, and scored his first senior goal and set up another in the Carabao Cup win at Millwall.
And Jokanovic said: “Luca is a really great lad. This player is working with me for a long while but I didn’t have space to give him so many chances.
“But he has never stopped pushing forwards and showed the personality and professionalism in training. I gave him some chances in the Championship and he always pushed hard and never surrendered.
“In the end it depends on many things (whether he will play), but he has a strong and healthy head and he has been strong waiting for the chance.
“I cannot promise anybody anything, but he showed many positive things. He is enjoying scoring his first goal for the senior team. He played well.”
De la Torre started at number 10 in a 3-5-2 system at The Den, and Jokanovic hinted the shape is something he is looking to use in the Premier League.
“At the end its a positive night and we are going to make some conclusions and think about how we can use different players in different moments or in different shapes,” he said.
“We tried to check something different and it’s working well enough, and we are open to all variations during the season. We are going to check if it’s an option playing this way in the future.”