Wednesday 31 December 2014 15:25, UK
QPR manager Harry Redknapp says he is definitely looking to add to the club’s striking options during the January transfer window.
However, Redknapp admitted that forwards are tough to find at this time of year and again played down talk of a possible move for Toronto’s Jermain Defoe, who he has worked with successfully in the past.
Ahead of the New Year’s Day game at home to Swansea, QPR are 15th and two points clear of the drop zone, but they have been heavily reliant on the goals of top scorer Charlie Austin.
And Redknapp said: “You can’t rely on Charlie getting all the goals, that’s obvious, so that is an area we are looking at.
“You’re looking for goals and you need different people to weigh in with goals.
“But it is very difficult, when you are looking for loans. Who is going to loan you a striker who is going to come in and grab you 10, 12 goals between now and the end of the season?
“Everybody is either scrapping to stay up or fighting for European places. It is just so difficult to find strikers, everybody is looking for a striker.”
Regarding Defoe, Redknapp added: “With Jermain, the whole package, to pay a transfer fee and then pay the wages and everything, would be too expensive for us at the moment.
Everybody is either scrapping to stay up or fighting for European places. It is just so difficult to find strikers, everybody is looking for a striker.
“So, that is a problem. The package would not be within our budget.
“I like Jermain, he is an excellent player and a great lad, but it would be a difficult one.”
QPR have also been linked with a loan move for West Ham’s Mauro Zarate and Redknapp says he hopes any new arrivals can be brought in fairly quickly.
“You would want to get them in as soon as you can really,” he said. “We have got five or six games in the month again.
“When you are down there scrapping like seven or eight teams are, you want your players in as quick as possible.”
QPR have yet to even register a point away from home this season but they have performed well at Loftus Road and Redknapp is confident they can beat the drop.
“The whole situation in the second half of the season will chop and change,” he said.
“There are seven or eight teams in the scrap but we are confident we will stay up.
“The lads want to do well for this football club and that will give us every chance this season.
“We need to keep making Loftus Road a fortress and we have got Sandro coming back soon, so that will be a boost.
“All I want from 2015, from a football point of view, is to keep QPR in the Premier League. That is all I want!”
