QPR’s transfer window: the answers to five important questions
With the transfer window now closed, here are some answers to some of the most common questions QPR fans have been asking on social media about the club’s January dealings.
Why didn’t QPR sell Matt Phillips?
Rangers, who demanded £10m for Phillips when they rejected a bid from West Bromwich Albion in the summer, would probably have sold for around £7m this time around.
Middlesbrough offered £6m but as it was their first offer and there were then 11 days of the transfer window remaining, and with West Brom, Watford and, to a lesser extent, Bournemouth showing an interest, there seemed a fair chance that Phillips could secure a move to the Premier League and Rangers could get a higher fee.
There were strong indications that Boro would have been prepared to increase their bid, but the player’s wages might have been more of a problem and it’s far from certain that Phillips would have signed for another Championship club, albeit one in with a very strong chance of promotion.
Watford looked elsewhere, while West Brom did not raise money by selling Saido Berahino and could not offload Callum McManaman – a player QPR were interested in – because he suffered an injury. So in the end Phillips stayed put.
Why was Charlie Austin sold for just £4m?
Austin would have been able to leave on a Bosman free transfer at the end of the season because his contract was due to expire. He rejected numerous attempts by the club over a long period of time to tie him to a new contract, instead making it clear he wanted to keep his options open.
Several big clubs were reported to be chasing Austin in the summer, but they quite simply weren’t. Rangers wanted £15m, but in the end there was no real decision to be made because the clubs that did make an approach, Leicester and Crystal Palace, were not of interest to Austin, who – as an English striker who had scored 18 Premier League goals – could have expected to be a tempting option in the summer for even the biggest clubs if he was available on a free.
Southampton, however, was a somewhat unique case because of the location. When they came in for him and Austin made it clear he wanted to sign for them, Rangers decided to let him go.
Did QPR get loan fees for Caulker, Sandro and Fer and who is paying their wages?
Rangers received a £1.5m loan fee for Caulker from Southampton when he joined them on a season-long deal in the summer. So in order to sign him, Liverpool paid the Saints £750,000 and are paying all his wages for the rest of the season. There is no agreement in place for a permanent transfer.
Swansea paid a significantly smaller loan fee for Fer and are paying all of his wages. Again there is no agreement to make the deal permanent.
Swansea had earlier discussed a potential loan deal for Sandro, who later joined West Brom. Albion are paying the Brazilian’s wages. There was no loan fee paid for that deal but Sandro’s move is set to be made permanent if he plays a certain number of games during his loan spell.
Why didn’t Rob Green leave?
Rangers wanted to offload Green because of a clause in his contract that means he will land a new deal if he makes five more appearances this season. Crystal Palace indicated they would sign him if they first offloaded former QPR keeper Alex McCarthy to Fulham, but that move didn’t happen.
Why didn’t Rangers sign anyone else, particularly a striker?
The club were generally limited by Financial Fair Play, which has been the overriding factor in their transfer dealings. They made enquiries about several strikers and made a pre-deadline attempt to sign Czech forward Jiri Skalak, who later joined Brighton.
Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey went to Austria and saw Skalak play in a friendly for FK Mlada Boleslav against Red Bull Salzburg – the Austrian club’s youth academy is well regarded and Ramsey, now QPR technical director, wanted to visit. Rangers had an offer for Skalak rejected.
Oxford United midfielder Kemar Roofe was linked with a move but that was never likely. Rangers enquired about him earlier in the window and Oxford wanted £3m.
Enquiries were made about a number of left-backs and manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was particularly keen on one in Germany, but nothing materialised.
Italian defender Marco Motta had a trial and a short-term deal was discussed, but he has been told he will not get the contract he wanted and there is now no prospect of him being signed.
