QPR and Oxford United in transfer battle to sign 22-year-old | OneFootball

The Championship clubs are set to face off in a transfer battle for the midfielder

Queens Park Rangers and Oxford United are set for a late transfer battle ahead of Monday night's deadline as they target the services of GAIS midfielder, Harun Ibrahim.

The two Championship sides have begun their respective campaigns in extremely underwhelming fashion, with new Rs boss Julien Stephan and Gary Rowett already facing pressure at Loftus Road and the Kassam Stadium.

QPR have made several transfer moves since the Frenchman moved to West London in June, yet only have one point to their name from the opening three league encounters, whilst the U's are one of two sides, along with last season's play-off final runners-up, Sheffield United - to have not accumulated a single point thus far.

Therefore, both clubs and bosses are in the market to further improve their squad in a bid to turn those fortunes around and achieve their respective aims for the remainder of the campaign, although they are also set to face European competition for the 22-year-old midfield player.

With very little time remaining to conduct business ahead of Monday night's cut-off point, we are likely to see several transfer battles between divisional rivals take place, and the scenario relating to Ibrahim's long-term future is seemingly no exception.

It has been reported by Daniel Kristofferson of Swedish sports news outlet - Aftonbladet - that Rangers and Oxford, alongside 2. Bundesliga club, FC Nurnberg, have all staked their individual claims in the race to acquire the Gothenburg-born man's services.

Oxford's interest in Ibrahim was initially registered by fellow Swedish outlet - Expressen - earlier in the week, with the report stating that Ibrahim could have played his final game for GAIS ahead of the imminent transfer deadline with several clubs vying for his signature.

With Rangers and the German side also interested, it remains to be seen what transfer fee the Allsvenskan club are prepared to accept for his services, but it has been revealed that the clubs are prepared to meet those demands.

Ibrahim has, reportedly, not ruled out a scenario where he remains at the Gamla Ullevi Stadium until the January window after being an instrumental figure for Fredrik Holmberg's side so far this season, as GAIS currently sit sixth in the table with 35 points accrued after 21 encounters.

The former FK Molde man is expected to make a decision on his future imminently, with the European deadline for business on September 2nd, approximately 24 hours after QPR and Oxford must conclude their transfer activity.

Harun Ibrahim would represent an exciting transfer move despite being an unknown quantity

Ibrahim is clearly a highly-rated talent in the Swedish footballing ether, although it remains to be seen whether he could translate his form of three goals in 18 games this season into the Championship, with the divisions having completely different demands.

Oxford's current midfield options represent a blend of youth and experience, and it is clear from his career thus far that Ibrahim falls into the middle of both brackets, whilst the same can also be said for Rangers.

Both clubs have added to those departments in the summer, and the West London side are also desperate to maintain the services of Jonathan Varane, rejecting a loan offer which included a €5m option-to-buy from Ligue 2 side Saint-Ettiene for one of their midfield stars.

Ibrahim's underlying numbers suggest a more combative midfielder, which could definitely be of use to the two sides over their remaining 41 league encounters, and they could end up landing themselves a major coup in the coming years.