Football League World
·14 Desember 2024
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·14 Desember 2024
Several players could soon start planning their Loftus Road exit if new deals are not agreed
Queens Park Rangers may view the January transfer window as a good time to refresh their squad ready for the second half of the season.
The west London outfit currently sit just outside the relegation zone, so additions could be vital to keep them in the division for next season.
But January is also the time that any players with expiring deals can begin to sign pre-agreement deals with foreign clubs, so the Hoops will want one eye on some of their players who have entered the final few months of their deals.
Here, Football League World looks at all the QPR players that could decide their summer move as early as next month…
Jack Colback signed for QPR in the summer of 2023, putting pen to paper on a two-year deal which is set to expire in the summer, but that contract did include a club option for an additional year.
The 35-year-old is currently sidelined with a knee injury, but was a regular feature of last season’s squad, so it remains to be seen whether the club opts to trigger their extension clause.
If they don't, then there is nothing stopping the veteran from talking to clubs outside of England for his next - and perhaps final move.
Steve Cook was another player to make the move from Nottingham Forest to QPR in 2023, also agreeing a two-year deal but with no option to extend.
The Hoops captain is one of the first names on the teamsheet currently, and at 33 years of age likely still has something to offer beyond the summer, so the club will likely want to prevent him signing a deal with a foreign team and get him tied down to another contract.
Striker Michael Frey was signed on an 18-month contract back in January from Belgian side Royal Antwerp, a deal which is set to expire in the coming summer.
He didn’t have the most promising start in the second half of last term, notching just one goal in nine outings, but his three goals and one assist in 10 showings this season have been a lot more promising up until suffering a calf injury.
That form may give the club food for thought, knowing that he will be free to negotiate outside of the country from January, and there is bound to be some European interest - whether Frey wants to stay at Loftus Road though remains to be seen.
Lucas Andersen was another attacking player signed from the continent in the last winter window, arriving from Danish side AaB Aalborg and signing an 18-month deal.
He has made just seven starts this season but has had a further 11 appearances off the bench. With his playing history in both Netherlands and Denmark, the Hoops may need to act fast if they do want to keep him beyond the summer.
Since signing from PEC Zwolle in 2022, signing a three-year deal at Loftus Road, Kenneth Paal has become extremely important at left-back for the club.
His track record in the Eredivisie is strong, and still has plenty to offer at 27 years old, so QPR will want to get him tied down to a new deal quickly because he will have suitors in Europe.
If Paal turns down the Hoops' advances though, then there is precious little they can do to convince the Suriname international to stay.
Morgan Fox arrived from Stoke City on a two-year deal in 2023, which is set to expire this summer.
The defender made 20 appearances last term but has featured sparingly in this campaign, so an exit may well work best for both parties - given his career history though, that's unlikely to be abroad.
With the club since 2017, there is little doubt QPR will want to hold onto Ilias Chair if they can. His four-and-a-half-year deal, signed in 2021, is due to expire this summer, but there is a club option to extend by a year.
Clubs like Leeds United in England have been sniffing around and that will no doubt be coupled with interest from abroad, but the option to trigger an extension - which QPR will surely take - should take the pressure off the immediate situation for a few months.
Jimmy Dunne’s 2021 contract at Loftus Road contained an option to extend for a year, which was triggered in the summer, but that means he only has months remaining and will soon be able to talk to foreign clubs.
Speaking to West London Sport about a new deal, Dunne said: “I’ve had no conversations. We’ll see what happens I suppose. I haven’t really thought about it.”
He’s a crucial cog in the Hoops’ defence, is only 27 years old and can play a couple of positions, so he will receive interest — the lack of concrete talks and the looming timescale of other clubs being able to speak to him may worry QPR fans.
Rayan Kolli has been with QPR since the age of eight and signed a professional contract in 2023 which keeps him at the club until the summer of 2025.
The exciting young winger has begun finding minutes in the first-team, and a brace against Norwich City last weekend will surely bring him onto the radar of other clubs as an emerging talent.
It’s becoming more and more common for English-born to go and test themselves abroad, with greater opportunities for senior football, so QPR must ensure they don’t allow Kolli’s head to be turned in January when foreign clubs can begin speaking to him.