‘An excellent young talent’ – QPR set for January transfer battle with Celtic, Rangers and others: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

QPR have joined the race for Tottenham attacker Dilan Markanday, according to the Evening Standard.

Celtic, Rangers, and a string of Championship clubs are said to be keen on the 20-year-old with Spurs open to a loan move but a permanent exit is not off the table due to his contract situation.

But would it be a good signing for the R’s? And do they need him?

Our FLW writers share their thoughts…

George Dagless

He’s a talented young footballer with lots to offer going forwards but I am not sure Queens Park Rangers need to be going after him.

They have good options already and I think their squad is in good shape whereby the January window should only see them act if they think they can bring in a player that will definitely improve the first XI.

They’ve had a good season so far and look as though they have plenty of room to grow and develop together further so I don’t know how much game-time they’d be able to afford the young Spurs man, especially if they signed him on loan.

A permanent deal might have more legs, but that’s far from certain either.

Billy Mulley

Dilan Markanday is an excellent young talent coming through the ranks at Tottenham and is destined to be a success.

However, I am not entirely sure that QPR is the right destination for him, especially when considering the R’s current attacking options and the formation they operate in.

Markanday is best operating on the wing or as a number 10, and with the R’s playing with wing-backs, I do not think this would suit him.

This leaves a number 10 role available to him, but QPR have arguably two of the best attacking midfielder’s in the entire division in Chris Willock and Ilias Chair.

For these reasons, I believe that there are better-suited clubs out there for him.

He is deserving a Championship move as he has looked a class above in PL2 so far this season, with his technical ability, tenacity and end-product all present in his matches thus far.

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Chris Thorpe

It would certainly be an interesting addition for the R’s to make at this stage of the season but you can see the benefits.

They would be bringing in a player that would add depth in a key area of the pitch and it would be relatively low risk as he wouldn’t cost a lot.

I do however think that the player himself would only want to move to a new club if he is guaranteed to stay on a regular basis, which means he may not fancy a move to West London.

Mark Warburton has shown in the past that he likes to show faith in young players but this deal would probably be coming at the wrong time.

In short, you have to feel that Markanday would rather move to a team that can offer him a clear pathway to becoming a regular at first-team level and I’m not sure that QPR can offer that right now.