QPR player tipped to depart Loftus Road before transfer deadline - he "might feel a bit mistreated" | OneFootball

QPR's goalkeeping situation this season has been a bit of a mess, and FLW's fan pundit reckons that this will result in Paul Nardi leaving the club.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Queens Park Rangers have had an inconsistent 2025-26 season so far, and nowhere has this been more evident than in their goalkeeping position.

Head coach Julien Stephan has already used three of them in the Championship this season, and there is an air of confusion over Loftus Road over who their first-choice in that position actually is.

With the January transfer window upon us, it's time for clubs to make their final tweaks ahead of the closing stages of the season, and the goalkeeping position is one that could yet be shaken up at Loftus Road. It's a position that QPR need to get right, if they're to push up from their current 11th-placed position and challenge for a play-off spot.

"Such a frustrating situation" - Paul Nardi tipped to leave Loftus Road over lack of game-time

Football League World have spoken to our resident Queens Park Rangers fan pundit Louis Moir on the subject of which one player he feels should be leaving the club, and Louis' choice falls squarely within this goalkeeping conundrum.

"Whether it's a permanent deal or a loan deal, I think Paul Nardi is looking to leave the club," Louis told FLW.

"It's been such a frustrating situation. The three goalkeepers that we've got - Nardi being dropped at the start of the season, Walsh coming in and him not being good enough, then Hamer coming in then swapping between Hamer and Nardi.

"It's been a bit of a mess and it's a shame, because Nardi was quite good for us last season, but he's just looked so poor, this year."

Louis identifies a recent match as being emblematic of the issues that his team faces in this position.

"You've got no confidence with him in goal and I think it showed at West Ham away in the Cup. Nardi wasn't playing, and it could have been a chance for him to come back in, but instead they go with Joe Walsh, who's not played for quite a long time," Louis added.

Our fan pundit feels the goalkeeper himself may well be of the opinion that he's been treated badly by Queens Park Rangers.

"So, I think Nardi's probably looking for a move away, this month or in the summer, he probably wants to leave because I think he's clearly not fancied to be number one and potentially might feel a bit mistreated in a way, when we've swapped between him and Hamer," Louis further stated.

"Those two have not been consistent either, when they've played alternating weeks."

"Nardi needs to leave and start getting his career back on track. A goalkeeper his age probably wants to start to playing more regularly, but it's clearly not going to be for QPR and whether it's January or in the summer, I don't think he'll be a QPR player for much longer. "

The Queens Park Rangers goalkeeping situation this season has been confusing, to say the least

With Paul Nardi having kept goal for QPR 16 times this season, Joe Walsh having done so four times and Ben Hamer seven, it's not difficult to see how Rangers fans could be a little confused by the goalkeeping situation at Loftus Road so far throughout the 2025-26 season.

And it wouldn't be surprising if Nardi himself was somewhat confused by the position too, having kept goal for them in more than half of their Championship matches this season despite reports last summer that he'd been "informed of the decision" that he would be surplus to requirements for this season.

This seemed to be the case at the start of the season, with Nardi being kept out of the team for most of their early matches. And even when Joe Walsh shipped seven goals at Coventry at the end of August, he retained his place for their next game, although Nardi was back in goal for their first League match after the international break at the start of September, against Wrexham.

When Walsh broke his wrist in training, 37-year-old free agent Ben Hamer was brought in on loan as cover, but the matter was further clouded when Hamer started to supplant Nardi in the QPR first-team as well. Walsh was back on the Rangers bench by the end of November and played the full 120 minutes against West Ham in the FA Cup, while Hamer has been in goal for four of their last five Championship matches.

Paul Nardi turns 32 at the end of this season, and it's not difficult to imagine how he might have felt slighted by the decision to play Walsh ahead of him at West Ham in the FA Cup.

With Hamer having now extended his original short-term deal until the end of the season, Nardi may well decide that his future is best served away from a club at which the head coach is giving every indication that he's considered to be their third-choice goalkeeper.