QPR to complete signing of striker Kelman

QPR will formally complete the signing of teenage striker Charlie Kelman from Southend United later today.

Kelman, 18, has agreed a three-year contract with the option of a further year and will initially play for Rangers’ development side.

He has some first-team experience, having made 31 league appearances and scored six goals for Southend.

But QPR see him as one for the future – similar to when they signed Bright Osayi-Samuel, Ebere Eze and Ilias Chair.

The plan is to assess Kelman’s progress in January and send him out on loan unless he develops faster than anticipated and has broken into the first team by then.

QPR want left-sided centre-back

Meanwhile, Rangers are stepping up their search for a centre-back ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.

They want a left-sided defender and are ready to let Conor Masterson leave on loan.

Enquiries have been made about a host of players, including Fulham’s Michael Hector and Cardiff’s Aden Flint.

But on Tuesday evening a deal to sign Flint was looking highly unlikely, while several other Championship clubs have shown an interest in Hector since he was recently left out of the Fulham side.

And there is plenty of interest in Masterson, who will be allowed to move elsewhere if another centre-back is brought in.

Plans to loan him out last January were scrapped after he broke into the first team and impressed.

However, QPR manager Mark Warburton has since been concerned that the youngster’s encouraging run of games might result in Masterson – who had not made a senior appearance prior to his arrival from Liverpool last year – missing out on vital first-team experience by remaining on the fringes of the Rangers side rather than going out on loan.