Championship strugglers Queens Park Rangers are hoping to bring Aston Villa midfielder Tim Iroegbunam back to the club in January, according to journalist Darren Witcoop.
The 20-year-old spent all of last season at Loftus Road with Rangers and was a key player under Michael Beale and later Gareth Ainsworth, making 32 appearances in England’s second tier for the London club.
However, since returning to Villa Park during the summer, Iroegbunam’s game-time has been incredibly limited as Aston Villa have such a stacked midfield, with the likes of John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Boubacar Kamara, and Jacob Ramsey all above the youngster in the pecking order.
Iroegbunam hasn’t played a single minute for the Villans in the first-team under Unai Emery. His appearances have been restricted to U21s football only, having featured twice in the EFL Trophy for Villa as well as the Premier League 2.
Now, Darren Witcoop is reporting that Villa are willing to let the England U20s international to leave this January but ideally on a permanent basis. The CIES Football Observatory have placed the young midfielder’s market value at £4 million.
QPR looking to bolster their midfield and have Aston Villa’s Tim Iroegbunam on their list. Villa are open to a permanent rather than a loan move at this stage for Iroegbunam, who spent last season at Loftus Road. #QPR #AVFC
— Darren Witcoop (@DarrenOWitcoop) December 22, 2023
QPR suffered a devastating 2-1 defeat away to Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday, ending their impressive four-game unbeaten run which included three victories in the Championship.
Depending on other results, Marti Cifuentes’ men could climb out of the relegation zone with a win against Southampton this weekend which is a credit to the job the Spanish coach has done since moving to Loftus Road.
However, the manager is still keen to strengthen in January if QPR are to begin their ascent out of the bottom three during the second half of the campaign.
Writer’s View
Iroegbunam would be a really solid acquisition by QPR and is a player who will already know the club and the players so there won’t be a need for a settling in period, having played there last season.
Nevertheless, the biggest concern with this deal is that Aston Villa are looking to offload the Englishman permanently. This could be problematic as it’s unlikely that QPR will be able to part with £4 million, or potentially even more in January given the club’s limited budget unless the Midlands giants agree to let him leave on loan with an option-to-buy clause in his contract.
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