QPR urged to "not entertain" 7-figure transfer offer for Jonathan Varane - £15m prediction made | OneFootball

FLW's QPR Fan Pundit has urged the club to dismiss Saint-Etienne's offer for midfielder Jonathan Varane.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Queens Park Rangers are embarking upon a new era, with former Stade Rennais boss Julien Stephan now at the helm after the departure of Marti Cifuentes this summer.

It has been a really difficult start for the Hoops though, with an early EFL Cup exit to Plymouth Argyle combined with some poor performances and results in the Championship, most notably their 7-1 loss to Coventry City.

The R’s have an exciting squad and have made some good signings this summer, but they may not be done for business just yet.

QPR told to laugh off move for Jonathan Varane - £15m claim made

It has been reported that Ligue 2 side Saint-Étienne have made a move to try and sign Jonathan Varane from QPR on a season-long loan deal, with a view to purchasing the midfielder next summer for a fee of €5m/£4.3m.

The Lille-born Martinique international defensive midfielder joined QPR from Spanish second-tier outfit Sporting Gijon for a reported £875k fee last summer, and he has gone on to put in some excellent performances for the west Londoners.

It is a move by Saint-Etienne that Football League World’s QPR fan pundit Louis Moir believes should be completely dismissed by the club ahead of the close of the window.

Louis says: “I think we shouldn’t even be entertaining offers like that, especially for players like Jonathan Varane.

“I think it’s quite disgraceful actually that a club think they can loan him, and then only offer five million to buy afterwards. Varane is a top, top player and I can only see him getting better afterwards.

"Really, I can see him potentially worth around £15m next summer, potentially. He is still going to be a player for us this season but it is whether he shows what he did last season, or better and really does become more and more consistent.

“If he does that then he’s going to become one of the best midfielders in the Championship. His value is going to increase and increase.

“Obviously if you look at the money we spent for him and this isn’t the first offer we have rejected for him, and you see how his value has already shot up by a fair amount, so that just shows the quality he has got and the potential at still quite a young age.

“You’d think he’s only going to get better, especially under this sort of manager as well.

“We can’t really be entertaining offers like that, and it’s a really good decision to tell Saint-Étienne that there is no chance of that happening whatsoever. I can’t see any club getting him on loan with an option to buy. I think it would be a permanent deal if he was to leave.

“Obviously we can enjoy him for at least another season. Players are going to come and go, and if it gets to a point next summer where he is worth too much that we can’t say no to the bids that come in, then he’s going to have to go.

“He’s a top player to get excited by once more for this season, and he could be worth a lot of money, and that will help us out in the future. I think he’ll be one of a few that we have bought for cheap and end up selling on and that’s the way to do things if you want to become more of a successful club.”

Busy transfer window for QPR - Varane must be retained

QPR have experienced an extremely busy summer, with plenty of incomings to try and freshen up the squad for Stephan, and that has continued into the last week or so with the recent additions of Isaac Hayden on a free transfer from Newcastle United, Rhys Norrington-Davies on loan from Sheffield United and Koki Saito joining on a permanent deal for a reported £2.7m fee Lommel.

Karamoko Dembélé completed a permanent move at the end of his loan with an obligation to buy to become their first signing of the summer, before Amadou Mbengue and Kealey Adamson joined on free transfers from Reading and Macarthur, respectively.

Kwame Poku joined from Peterborough United after a compensation package was agreed with Posh, before League One strikers Rumarn Burrell and Richard Kone joined from Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers.

In terms of outgoings, the only sale has seen Charlie Kelman move across the capital city to join Charlton Athletic, whilst Kenneth Paal and Lucas Andersen left at the end of their contracts, as well as Morgan Fox, with Alfie Lloyd, Zan Celar and Murphy Cooper all sent out on loan.

So, with just days remaining of the transfer window, QPR shouldn't be selling a star player like Varane at this stage, and certainly not for a loan deal that may see the R's left feeling short-changed by the end of the season.