QPR face Swansea City transfer battle for 21-year-old forward | OneFootball

The two Championship clubs have lodged an enquiry over Jalal Abdullai's availability

Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City are reportedly amongst a clutch of sides who have lodged enquiries to Swedish Allsvenskan outfit, IF Elfsborg, over the possibility of signing 21-year-old forward, Jalal Abdullai.

That is according to Rudy Galetti, who revealed such developments on X on Wednesday evening, with the two Championship sides potentially set to be involved in a transfer battle for the Ghanaian's services between now and the closing of the current winter transfer window.

Rangers are currently amongst a whole host of clubs fighting it out to secure a play-off place in this season's second tier, despite the fact the opening months of their first campaign under the management of Julien Stephan has been rather mixed.

Meanwhile, the Swans are currently in the midst of their first transfer window under Portuguese boss, Vitor Matos, who was appointed in November following the dismissal of Alan Sheehan in South Wales.

Since moving to the Swansea.Com Stadium, the former Liverpool assistant has seen his new chargers somewhat pick up their form, and they are currently eight points clear of the relegation zone.

It has become a much more common occurrence to see sides in the Championship expand their scouting network to the Scandinavian leagues in the hope of sourcing gems, with August Priske the latest to fall into said category after he completed a £6m switch from Elfsborg's Allsvenskan rivals, Djurgardens IF, to Birmingham City earlier in the week, whilst all of Blues, Coventry City and Stoke City had previously been linked with Abdoulie Manneh, who scored seven times last term for Swedish champions, Mjallby AIF.

However, it now appears that Abdullai could be set for a first move to the English game if one of the Hoops or the Jacks are successful in their respective pursuits, albeit they aren't said to be alone in the hunt for the forward's services.

Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City submit enquiries for IF Elfsborg's Jalal Abdullai

Galetti's aforementioned update states that Abdullai is attracting interest from clubs in the United Kingdom - including Rangers and Swansea - and beyond, which could make for an intriguing transfer saga.

Despite being just 21 years of age, the Ghanaian forward has emerged as one of the brightest prospects in Scandinavia, having enjoyed a successful loan spell with Norwegian side, FK Molde.

Abdullai had progressed through the ranks of Accra-based side, Inter Allies, before moving to IF Elfsborg in the summer of 2023, where he has since made 52 appearances, scoring 12 times and posting a further assist in that timeframe.

During the 2025 season, though, he was the subject of a loan agreement with Eliteserien outfit, Molde, and subsequently made 24 appearances, whilst continuing to showcase his current ability and future potential with a tally of nine goals and one assist.

Elfsborg were able to tie the centre-forward down to a new four-year contract in the summer of 2024, which still has two-and-a-half years left to run until the summer of 2028.

However, whilst his current employers continue their pre-season preparations ahead of the beginning of the Allsvenskan season on April 6th, Abdullai has become the subject of rather strong transfer interest.

Earlier in the window, it was claimed that Rangers, Middlesbrough and Preston North End were tracking his situation, as well as Anderlecht, KRC Genk, FC Copenhagen and FC Midtjylland.

However, whilst interest still reportedly remains from the West London side, Swansea are also looking to strike a deal for the forward, although it remains to be seen what comes from the submitting of their respective enquiries.

Jalal Abdullai would be a promising signing for Queens Park Rangers or Swansea City

Both QPR and Swansea have enjoyed success in their striking departments this term, although it came as a huge blow to Stephan when it was confirmed that top scorer and summer signing, Rumarn Burrell, would be sidelined until at least March after his recent injury.

Matos also finds himself in an intriguing position with Zan Vipotnik, who is now the outright top scorer in the division with 13 goals in 26 games, and had subsequently attracted previous interest from West Ham United, which has since cooled.

Neither set of supporters would certainly be fully hanging their hats on Abdullai to be the main difference-maker in their respective short-term aims, but his record at this stage of his career points towards a potentially exciting and bargain transfer move.