QPR and Julien Stephan won't regret striker exit decision - It's not Charlie Kelman | OneFootball

QPR may not rue the summer sale of Charlie Kelman, and the same feeling likely applies with another striker moved out of Loftus Road

QPR are bound to be pleased with the summer transfer business conducted at Loftus Road following an impressive start to the 2025/26 EFL Championship campaign under new head coach Julien Stephan, who has the Hoops positioned inside the top-six ahead of this month's international break.

Stephan's side initiated the season in mixed fashion, taking just one point from their opening three matches amid a bruising 7-1 defeat away to Frank Lampard's free-scoring Coventry City outfit. However, they have not lost since and promptly proceeded to embark upon a three-match winning run by defeating Charlton Athletic, Wrexham and Stoke City before playing out draws with Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United.

QPR returned to winning ways by claiming a 2-1 victory over Bristol City on Saturday afternoon, though, elevating the West London side to sixth place going into the October international break. Such strong early-season form is perhaps the byproduct of what many felt was an encouraging summer at QPR, with the much-heralded appointment of Stephan paying dividends alongside early impacts from recruits such as Richard Kone and Koki Saito — the Japanese winger having spent last season on loan at Loftus Road, of course.

As ever, activity was present on both sides, and QPR ensured that their bid for summer additions was streamlined by a number of exits. The likes of Charlie Kelman and Zen Celar were both moved out of the door — the former in a reported £3.5 million deal and the latter on loan to Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Much has been made about Kelman's goalless start to life in the Championship with Charlton, but Celar's less-than-impactful beginnings in Germany will provide a similar lack of regret.

Zan Celar is yet to get going at Fortuna Düsseldorf after QPR exit

Celar's temporary move to Düsseldorf was sanctioned back in August, with his exit arriving off the back of a bitterly-frustrating debut campaign with QPR after joining from Swiss side Lugano.

The 17-cap Slovenian international joined QPR with strong goalscoring pedigree, of course, but struggled to translate that into the rigors of English football's second-tier and only scored twice from 22 appearances, with both of those strikes coming in a 2-0 win away at Cardiff City. Injury curtailed his campaign in December, though Celar did return to feature twice in the Championship under Stephan before being farmed out — and he's hardly making QPR regret that decision at this moment in time.

Celar is yet to find the back of the net from his opening four matches in the Bundesliga.2, having debuted at the end of the previous month in a 0-0 draw with Karlsruher SC. He also fired blanks in subsequent fixtures against Preussen Munster, Darmstadt and FC Nurnberg - two of which Düsseldorf lost - and was left on the bench as an unused substitute in a 1-0 away victory over Bochum.

There is a shortage of seasoned strikers on the books at Düsseldorf, meaning that Celar should find himself with plenty of opportunities to rediscover his continental goalscoring touch and even make QPR regret the decision to sanction a loan exit after just one year.

However, Celar remains second-choice behind ex-Rangers striker Cedric Itten right now and has done little to change that in his early forays with Düsseldorf.

QPR won't be regretting Zan Celar, Düsseldorf exit decision

Few R's supporters questioned the thinking behind Celar's exit at the time, with Stephan having bolstered his striking options by acquiring Rumarn Burrell and the aforementioned Kone from Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers respectively. Though Burrell is yet to really hit the ground running with just one goal and one assist apiece to show for his efforts from 10 appearances, Kone is, as expected, shaping up to represent an inspired purchase.

Kone image credit - Benji Walker (@benjiwalkerphoto)

The Ivorian-born frontman has scored on four occasions in his opening eight matches, with the Loftus Road faithful already seeing proverbial 'dollar signs' with the outlay that could be collected for the 22-year-old in due course.

Retaining him for as long as possible, of course, will be the priority, especially with dreams of a Premier League return now reigniting in this corner of London, and with Kone continuing to score on a fairly-free basis while Celar flatters to deceive infront of goal once again, it's hardly likely that QPR or Stephan are going to live to regret this decision anytime soon.