QPR keeping tabs on Peterborough United player as centre-back hunt accelerates | OneFootball

With less than a month to go until the Championship season begins, Queens Park Rangers are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements.

The Hoops sold Rob Dickie to divisional rivals Bristol City for an undisclosed fee, with the former R's Player of the Year coming into the final year of his contract, whilst Leon Balogun has opted to make a return to Glasgow Rangers despite sticking with QPR and recovering from his injuries last season.

It now leaves just Jimmy Dunne and Jake Clarke-Salter at the heart of Gareth Ainsworth's defence, but Clarke-Salter himself was plagued with injuries in his first year at Loftus Road.

Ainsworth is believed to be eyeing up a player he knows very well in Wycombe Wanderers centre-back Chris Forino, and they were also linked to Wigan Athletic's Jack Whatmough in recent weeks after it was believed he could depart the Latics on a free transfer due to unpaid wages last season.

Another player that has now crept onto the R's radar, according to Sunday Mirror Sports Editor Darren Witcoop, is Peterborough United defender Josh Knight, who joins Forino and Whatmough as a target of Ainsworth's.

Who is Josh Knight?

Having come through the academy system at Leicester City, Knight signed a professional contract but in the five years following that he made just one senior appearance for the Foxes - that coming in a League Cup clash with Sheffield United in August 2017.

Instead of playing under-21's football, Knight had to instead go out on loan to continue his development and he first joined Peterborough on a temporary basis in January 2019.

Posh re-signed Knight in the summer of 2019 on a season-long deal, playing 26 times in all competitions - mainly as a midfielder - as they just missed out on the play-off spots on a Points Per Game basis.

Knight then joined Wycombe Wanderers on loan in 2020, then of the Championship after their promotion from League One, and that also means he was managed by Ainsworth at the Chairboys.

He played in 39 matches for Wanderers with the majority of his outings coming in the role of centre-back as opposed to his time at Peterborough, but after winning Wycombe's Player of the Year award, Knight returned to Posh on a permanent basis in the summer of 2021 when they became a Championship club.

The 25-year-old has been at the heart of Peterborough's defence for the last two seasons, although he did spend a considerable period of time on the bench last season with the duo of Frankie Kent and Ronnie Edwards preferred, although he still racked up 39 appearances.

What is Josh Knight's contract situation at Peterborough?

When signing from Leicester for an undisclosed fee in 2021, Knight put pen-to-paper on a three-year contract at the Weston Homes Stadium, meaning his current deal runs out next summer.

As per club policy, all players with one year to go on their contracts are placed on the transfer list with owner Darragh MacAnthony liking to have individuals tied up on multi-year deals, so Knight is one player that is up for grabs this summer.

QPR would of course need to pay a fee to sign Knight, but having managed him before Ainsworth will know what he's all about and what kind of figure he is worth.