Charlton Athletic sent Charlie Kelman warning as QPR view is given - "I’ll be shocked" | OneFootball

FLW’s QPR fan pundit has commented on how well the R’s have done to sell Charlie Kelman and bring in Richard Kone to Loftus Road.

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 will be optimistic of challenging for promotion back to the Premier League this season after a positive opening to the 2025-26 campaign, and some of their summer transfer business was certainly exciting on paper.

The R’s have had a mixed start to the new second-tier term under Julien Stephan, but with their impressive 3-1 victory away at Wrexham lifting them to 12th place in the table, things look to be on the up.

This has seen the West London outfit take seven points from their opening five games, with just a further two points separating them from a play-off place, as Coventry City sit in sixth on nine points.

QPR will be looking to keep their early-season form going when they host high-flying Stoke City at Loftus Road on Saturday lunchtime, while games against Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United will be targeted to take maximum points from in the coming weeks.

During the summer transfer window, QPR elected to freshen up their forward department, controversially conducting the sale of Charlie Kelman to newly-promoted Charlton Athletic, despite him netting 21 times from 46 games in League One for Leyton Orient last term.

The Hoops earned a reported £3.5m, rising to £5m for the American, using the funds to then sign Richard Kone from Wycombe Wanderers for £2.75m.

And their starts to the second-tier couldn’t have been more drastic, with Kelman failing to open his account at The Valley so far after five games, while the Ivorian Kone has well and truly hit the ground running in West London, scoring three goals in four games and been a major asset to such an impressive start.

With this in mind, FLW’s QPR fan pundit has issued his thoughts on this transfer call.

QPR lauded for Charlie Kelman, Richard Kone summer deals

Speaking to Football League World, QPR fan pundit Louis Moir has heaped praise onto the R’s for selling Charlie Kelman and bringing in Richard Kone as his replacement, believing Kelman didn’t have what it took to thrive in the second-tier at Loftus Road.

Louis told FLW: “I think deep down I was always in the mindset that Kelman was not up to Championship level.

“As time went on, when he came back in pre-season time, I was thinking does he deserve a chance? Probably after being League One’s top goalscorer, but then something in the back of my mind said that he wouldn’t be up to it.

"Ultimately, he didn’t want to be at the club, and we had to sell him, and for a player on the last year of his contract, the money we got was spectacular, a spectacular bit of business.

“That was initial fees too, which could rise with add-ons, so to get Kone for the money we did, and to sell Kelman for what we got, wow, you look at it, and it’s ridiculous, really.

“Kelman has been pretty atrocious, was getting subbed, didn’t start against us when we beat them and hasn’t made any impact at all apparently, looking at it. No goals, but Kone has come in with three goals in four games and the difference is so clear.

“I always thought Kelman was a League One player, had a very good season last year with the amount of goals he scored, but if it’s not put on a plate for him and stepping up to that level, then he’s not up to it.

“It’s still early days, but I’ll be shocked if he scores a lot of goals for Charlton. I just can’t see it. Obviously, he didn’t want to be at the club and the way it ended by getting Kone in has been a dream, an absolute dream scenario for us.

“If Charlton struggle, he’ll have even less of an impact and if they go down, then they have a decent striker for League One.”

Early differences between Charlie Kelman and Richard Kone are staggering

Kone image by Benji Walker (@benjiwalkerphoto)

In the early stages, it’s safe to say QPR have had a masterstroke by selling Charlie Kelman and bringing in Richard Kone.

It was an extraordinary piece of business to sell Kelman for £3.5m, particularly entering the final year of his deal and never having any previous prolific profile in front of goal at this level.

Meanwhile, this is Kone's maiden Championship season, but the R’s obviously did their due diligence and determined that he fitted the bill a lot better, and that’s proving to be the case already, with the Ivorian using his sharp pace, intelligent runs and clinical eye for goal to hit the ground running and be the talisman the club has long craved.

For just £2.75m, it could prove to be the bargain signing of the season, with QPR in a great position to be in the promotion mix if Kone can keep up his regularity of finding the back of the net.

Of course, in football, things can change very quickly, but as Kelman still awaits his first goal for the Addicks, QPR will be beaming that these two deals are having a massive impact on how their campaign is unfolding so far.