"We need the money" - QPR told to cash in on £10m-rated Burnley, Crystal Palace, Stoke and Wolves target | OneFootball

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 defender Jake Clarke-Salter has caught the eye of some Premier League clubs and could well be sold for decent fee in the summer transfer window.

Reports from the Evening Standard have said that the total cost of deal could rise as high as £10 million if the Rs are to let the 26-year-old defender go.

They added that Stoke City are among the clubs interested in signing Clarke-Salter. Burnley, Crystal Palace, and Wolves were three top flight sides named by The Sun as also being interested in him.

Previous reports from John Percy of The Telegraph said that the Rs wanted a fee closer to the region of £5-7 million.

Having reportedly rejected an approach from Michael Beale's Rangers last summer, the London-based side will hope to receive top compensation for Clarke-Salter, who is said to have a "loose agreement" with the club that they would be open to Premier League offers, in order to allow the former Chelsea academy graduate to progress his career further, as per the Standard.

Football League World asked its QPR fan pundit, Louis Moir, what he felt about the clubs that Clarke-Salter had been linked with and the reported fee that the club are seeking for him.

QPR fan opinion on Clarke-Salter valuation

The QPR fan believes that the reported fee of £5-7 million for the 26-year-old is the right one, and a deal that the club should make if the offer comes in so that they can reinvest it into the team.

"It's nice to know that under the new CEO, moving forwards, that we're going to be valuing our players at the level that they are worth," said Moir.

"Years have gone by when we have sold players for way too cheap, and, unfortunately, I don't think this is going to be the last one of our players to be linked with a move away.

"Clarke-Salter has been immense. He's managed to stay fit for a while now, which is massive.

"For me, I think he is a Premier League-level centre-back. Obviously, he's had his injury problems over the years, but we have seen now that he is a top player.

"I think we have to learn from past mistakes when we haven't sold players at the right time. Look at clubs like Brentford that have moved on. They buy players for cheap money, then sell them on, and then progress; that's what we have to do. "I think £5-7 million is probably a fair price. Like I said, it's nice to see that it looks like we'll be valuing players at the right price nowadays.

"I can't see him going to Stoke - that would be a bit of a weird move. I do think a Premier League club will come in for him, or one that will come down and fight to go back up.

"I would be surprised if he went to Stoke. But we're going to have to sell these players at the right time, and if an offer like that comes in you can't say no.

"The one thing that gives me optimism is probably the fact that we've got a new CEO and manager, who I feel, moving forwards, are going to get the recruitment spot on.

"I have full faith in us to replace these good players with players that are as good, if not better.

"It will be sad to see him go, but we have to move on. Players come and go, and we need the money to reinvest into the squad."

Stoke City would feel like a sideways move for Clarke-Salter

The 2023/24 Championship table reflects the level that the current Stoke and QPR sides are at, and it is pretty much identical.

Ability to spend and probably move up the table quicker: that power lies more with the Potters than it does the Rs. But, even with their vast wealth, Stoke haven't shown that they can be one of the top teams in the Championship for a long time.

The same can be said about the central defender's current team. However, what their manager achieved this season, with the squad that he had to work with, certainly suggests that they could push higher up the second tier; or there should at least be more confidence in him to do it than Steven Schumacher.

If Clarke-Salter wants to pursue a move to somewhere else, then he is well within his rights to do so. But the merits of joining Stoke don't seem that vast, in comparison to sticking with Marti Cifuentes and seeing where the journey takes them.