Double QPR blow has left Julian Stephan reeling - but next season can be different | OneFootball

Julien Stephan will be praying that Kwame Poku and Karamoko Dembele can avoid the treatment room next season

Overall, the 2025/26 campaign will go down as a positive one for QPR, with the foundations laid down at Loftus Road for a side who could challenge for a top-eight spot in the future.

On paper, it looks pretty simple as to where the Hoops need to improve next season to end up launching a legitimate run towards finishing inside the new, expanded play-offs.

Their goalkeeper situation is arguably the worst in the league, given that they've been a top-10 team when it comes to expected goals conceded this season, meaning they've been among the better sides in the division in terms of limiting chances, but still concede among the most in the league.

Despite that, actual defensive upgrades will still be desired. The first pieces of that puzzle were placed back in January with Ronnie Edwards' £4.5 million arrival, but more will need to be done to help shore up the backline this offseason.

But the main reason why the defence will be the focus in terms of arrivals is more due to the fact that QPR's frontline looks set for seasons to come. And that's not even including a couple of stars who have had incredibly difficult years in and out of the side due to injury.

Karamoko Dembele and Kwame Poku's injury-riddled season

Indeed, QPR have looked electric in front of goal in stages this past season, with Richard Kone and Rumarn Burrell shouldering the majority of the load, Harvey Vale coming into his own in the second half of the term, and Paul Smyth and Koki Saito chipping in here and there, too.

And it could have been even better if both Kwame Poku and Karamoko Dembele were fit and firing throughout the season.

Dembele hasn't been able to get a proper head of steam in the two seasons he's spent at Loftus Road yet. After an incredible loan spell at Blackpool in League One in the 2023/24 campaign, he made a loan move to QPR, and just a couple of months later, had that switch made permanent.

Unfortunately, a knee injury in November 2024 would rule him out for four months, and while he began this season playing regularly, he wasn't able to recapture the form he's exhibited in parts during that 2024/25 campaign. Now, he's set to miss the opening stages of next season after undergoing surgery for an ACL injury back in February.

Poku's situation is arguably even more frustrating, given the fanfare which surrounded him heading into the summer.

Despite only making 27 League One appearances in his final year at Peterborough United, he'd pick up 20 goal contributions and make the third tier's Team of the Season, and he was one of the early transfer sagas following the conclusion of his Posh contract.

QPR raced to secure his signature. In fact, reports of the £900,000 fee they'd have to pay for him emerged just a day after Julien Stephan was confirmed as head coach, indicating that this was a signing they wanted to make, irrespective of who was in charge.

But the hamstring issues that forced him to miss nearly half of the 2024/25 campaign reared their head immediately. He was forced off on the opening day against Preston North End and missed two months in the early stages of 2026.

Now, he's set to spend even more time out after coming off hurt against Swansea City in the third-from-last game of the season.

Kwame Poku and Karamoko Dembele will be out to prove themselves next season when fit — it can only be good news for QPR next season

Poku has only managed 16 league games this season, while Dembele has managed 28. Everyone knows the quality that they both can possess, and once their current injury layoffs are behind them, there'll be an added incentive to prove their worth at Loftus Road.

That can only be a good thing for Julien Stephan. If the duo can start performing as they did back in League One over the past few years, QPR will have a frightening frontline.

That's not even considering the natural progression the likes of Kone and Vale will take, and the fact that Burrell himself has also missed periods of the campaign with injury, so a fully fit season for the Jamaican could result in another double-digit scoring year.

There's a lot to be excited about at Loftus Road next season. With the play-offs expanding, Julien Stephan's side will definitely be one of the perennial mid-table sides who will be looking to make that jump and increase their chances of a Premier League return.

With an improved goalkeeper and some defensive additions, plus an injury-free year for some of their forwards, there may be nothing stopping QPR next season.