Harry wants players in & Wright-Phillips out
• Redknapp keen to make signings
• Wright-Phillips told to find another club
• Defoe potentially available but currently not among top targets
• Enquiries made about several Tottenham players and Coquelin
• Kranjcar desperate to secure return to QPR
• Traore reluctant to join Palace but would be behind Yun
• Some interest shown in Phillips and Onuoha
QPR boss Harry Redknapp began transfer deadline day determined to make a number of signings – and has told Shaun Wright-Phillips to find another club.
Redknapp is looking for a replacement for Loic Remy after the striker’s move to Chelsea.
Several possible options were being considered yesterday and Rangers are aware of Jermain Defoe’s potential availability.
Defoe, 31, played under Redknapp at Tottenham and Portsmouth and is expected to leave Toronto FC after a short spell in Canada.
However, he was not among Rangers’ top targets at the start of deadline day, although there has been contact with his representatives and he is currently in England in case there are developments.
Remy’s departure shortly before the transfer window closes is an outcome QPR hoped to avoid.
They initially expected to be able to complete the £5m signing of long-time target Kolbeinn Sigthorsson but now believe the Icelandic striker may stay at Ajax, where he has been offered a pay rise.
As has been the case during successive transfer windows, both during Redknapp’s time at Tottenham and since his arrival at Loftus Road, Rangers’ business has largely depended of which players are made available by Spurs.
Winger Andros Townsend, who impressed during a loan spell with the R’s the season before last, is a long-time target.
Enquiries have been made about several other Tottenham players, including Aaron Lennon, midfielder Sandro, striker Harry Kane – who almost joined QPR last year – and full-back Kyle Naughton.
And ex-Spurs man Niko Kranjcar, who spent last season on loan at Rangers, is desperate to return from Dynamo Kiev.
Discussions have been taking place all summer to try to thrash out a deal to bring the Croatian back.
Midfielder Lassana Diarra, who played under Redknapp at Portsmouth and has left Lokomotiv Moscow, snubbed a late approach from Roma in order to sign a one-year deal at Rangers. The move is expected to be rubber-stamped in the next few hours.
Redknapp wants another midfielder and has long been keen to sign West Ham’s Mo Diame, but the R’s hierarchy have reservations. Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin is also of interest.
Wright-Phillips, meanwhile, has been a major flop since being signed from Manchester City in 2011.
Now in the final year of his contract, he has been told he will not be in Redknapp’s squad and should go.
After today the former England wide-man would still have the opportunity to join a Championship club on loan. Charlton have previously shown an interest.
Redknapp has offloaded Danny Simpson to Leicester following the recent signing of Mauricio Isla, but Armand Traore is reluctant to leave despite Crystal Palace having an offer accepted.
Traore has told the club’s board he wants to stay. But he faces falling behind Yun Suk-Young in the pecking order, with the South Korean in line for a run in the first team after the international break. Yun is recovering from a slight injury.
There has been some interest in Matt Phillips and out-of-favour defender Nedum Onuoha.
Burnley have been monitoring both men but no offers have yet been made and they are currently important squad players – Phillips played against Sunderland on Saturday.
“We do need to strengthen the squad, bring some new players in, and one or two I need to shift,” said Redknapp.
“There’s lads here who are not going to be in the squad who need to move on. If they want to play football they should go somewhere else.”
With a host of potential signings being explored and members of last season’s promotion-winning squad becoming surplus to requirements, the situation is arguably comparable to the overhaul which quickly followed QPR’s Championship triumph in 2011.
That spending spree, which started under former manager Neil Warnock and continued under his successor Mark Hughes, backfired spectacularly.
But the current boss insists he can improve the quality of the squad without causing disharmony.
Redknapp said: “It’s a simple game and it’s about good players. If you’ve got good, quality people around you then they run the dressing room.
“Managing is an easy game when you’ve got good players. When you’ve got bad players it’s the hardest job in the world. When you’ve got fantastic professionals it makes the job easy.”
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