5 free agents QPR could look to sign ASAP - Ex-Southampton midfielder features | OneFootball

There are plenty of players available who don't have contracts at the moment, so here are five that QPR could pick up completely free of charge.

The transfer window may be closed, but out-of-contract players are still an option for clubs who feel they need extra reinforcement. Queens Park Rangers are one such club, with room in their squad for further reinforcements.

With a couple of injuries already racked up, a couple of decent results and one extremely stinging result already under their belts, it seems reasonable to say that Queens Park Rangers have had both an eventful and mixed start to the 2025-26 season.

There are a fewer other clubs in the Championship more desperate for a change of fortunes. Rangers fans have endured a decade of mediocrity following their last relegation from the Premier League in 2015, and last season brought more of the same, with a 15th-placed finish.

In a competitive division, and with two of those relegated at the end of last season, Ipswich Town and Southampton, having endured torrid starts, there's an opportunity for QPR to push to end their lengthy spell of mid-table drabness.

The free agents market could be a good place to start in a bid to bulk up their first-team squad a little and take advantage of the opportunity the R's have, and they have two official squad spaces to do just that.

With that in mind, here are FIVE players who could do a job for Rangers, as they seek to continue their recent turnaround in form.

Let's kick off with a position in which Queens Park Rangers do seem to be somewhat under-manned. Accomplished defensive midfielders can make a huge difference to a team, and head coach Julien Stephan looks as though he could do with some reinforcement in that position.

Oriol Romeu is currently available, but might not be for that much longer. Romeu was released by Barcelona in August and is currently without a club, but reported interest in taking him to Turkey to play for Konyaspor hasn't come to anything yet and Rangers could swoop in with an offer to bring him back to England.

Now 34 years of age, Romeu would only be a short-term option, but he's vastly experienced and could provide additional cover for a team that has only kept one clean sheet in six league matches so far this season.

4 Nathan Redmond

There was considerable excitement at Loftus Road during the summer when QPR secured the signing of the young Peterborough United winger Kwame Poku, but Poku was injured on the opening weekend of the season against Preston and hasn't appeared for them since.

Reports towards the end of last month suggested that he would be back after the September international break, yet the latest injury update from the club suggests that it could still be several weeks before he can return.

Harvey Vale has stepped into the vacant position on the right, and put in an excellent shift in their last league match against Stoke, scoring the only goal of the game, but Redmond offers versatility, being able to play on either wing or as a second striker.

He's been without a club since being released by Burnley at the end of last season, and he would give Stephan options across both wings, attack and midfield.

3 Jamal Lewis

Another early-season injury to befall QPR was the ACL damage done to Ziyad Larkeche in training in the middle of August. Larceche had only signed a new contract with the club earlier in the summer, and his loss was a big one for Rangers.

Rhys Norrington-Davies has been deputising in that position, but Rangers were looking for reinforcements before Larceche's injury and Lewis would be an accomplished way to fill that gap.

The former Newcastle United left-back had a disastrous spell on loan in Brazil last season with São Paulo which was curtailed by injury, and he was released by the Premier League club at the end of last season.

Lewis performed well in his last season in the Championship, on loan at Watford in 2022-23, and heat maps for the two players show two left-backs who are positionally very similar.

He's another player who the R's would have to act quickly to pick up, but he could provide a challenge to Norrington-Davies for the left-back spot and leave Stephan with more cover until Ziyad Larkeche is recovered from his injury.

2 Kemar Roofe

Kemar Roofe has had a tough couple of years with injuries.

His contract with Derby County was not renewed in the summer, but he's stayed training with the club even though he is without a contract at the moment.

Roofe has been described as having made "a big impression on the dressing room" at Derby, and that could be something that could benefit Julien Stephan, with QPR having some of the youngest team average starting ages in the division so far this season.

Michael Frey has now recovered from his latest injury, but his record in that department isn't stellar, so there's every possibility that further attacking reinforcements will be needed.

And Roofe, who's able to play on either wing as well as in attack, could offer that versatility that is so important in a squad that needs to be rotated. If he can be tempted south from the East Midlands, he could be a valuable addition to the Loftus Road ranks.

1 Alfie Whiteman

QPR brought in Ben Hamer as a third goalkeeper for this season at the end of last week, but at 37 years of age the extent of his involvement in the first-team at Loftus Road could be questionable.

Paul Nardi had been expected to leave Loftus Road during the summer, but he was brought back into the first team after his replacement Joe Walsh conceded those seven goals at Coventry last month. Nardi has performed well since coming back, but there is still uncertainty over who QPR's first-choice goalkeeper actually is.

Ben Hamer could provide decent emergency cover, but whether he could be Rangers' first-choice is very much open to question. But one out-of-contract goalkeeper could provide an answer to that question. Alfie Whiteman was released by Spurs at the end of last season after a decade with the club during which he failed to break into the first team.

Whiteman is clearly a very talented goalkeeper - you don't get to stay on the books at a club the size of Spurs for ten years unless you are very talented - and his is a playing career that needs a reset. He was given a trial by Portsmouth during the summer, but that didn't come to anything, and he could provide a little extra offer for a club who don't seem to quite know who their first-choice goalkeeper is at the moment.