QPR should join Sheffield United, West Brom in Brighton transfer race | OneFootball

QPR's top-six aspirations could be well-served by joining Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion in a potential transfer race involving Brighton

A strong showing in the January transfer window could offer the boost QPR require in order to propel into the Championship's top-six come May, and they should look no further than enlisting themselves alongside Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion in the race to seal a potential deal with Premier League side Brighton.

QPR are, of course, firmly in the mix to compete for a play-off berth under Julien Stephan, who has proved himself to be a more-than-apt replacement for now-Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes after his appointment over the summer.

The R's are currently positioned in ninth place and are sitting just three points shy of sixth-placed Watford at the campaign's midway point, with a wide-open race for a shot at the play-offs set to commence heading into the latter stages of the season.

Inconsistency, however, has remained a defining and detrimental issue at Loftus Road, one which could threaten to derail the Hoops' dreams of a potential return to the Premier League after a decade of Championship exile.

QPR have lost just won fewer games than they have won following Monday evening's defeat at West Brom, marking a loss, draw and victory from their last three encounters, while crisis club Sheffield Wednesday are the only second-tier side to have let in more goals than Stephan's outfit — who are proving considerably better at putting them in as opposed to keeping them out.

The defence, then, is a real drawback, with a new goalkeeper in particular sure to be eyed. Despite that, QPR would still stand to benefit from additional attacking stardust in light of a lack of goalscoring prowess from wide areas, which could be addressed by potentially pipping the Blades and the Baggies to an eye-catching deal this month.

Sheffield United, West Brom have been linked with Brighton's Amario Cozier-Duberry amid Bolton Wanderers exploits

To do that, QPR will need to join two of their Championship rivals and looking a division below into League One, which has been lit up by Bolton Wanderers loanee Amario Cozier-Duberry this term.

On loan from Premier League side Brighton, the tricky winger has flourished following a disappointing stint with Blackburn Rovers in the previous campaign.

Cozier-Duberry embarked upon an electrifying start to life at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, and while the 20-year-old has endured something of a slump in form in recent weeks, he's still done more than enough to warrant a second-tier re-run.

With a penchant for scoring from range — particularly late on in games — Cozier-Duberry has established himself as a firm fan favourite under Steven Schumacher, returning six goals and seven assists from just 22 League One appearances.

The ex-Arsenal youth prodigy has been a consistent livewire and a chief tormentor of often-helpless third-tier defences by creating 37 chances and completing 50 dribbles, too, representing a high-quality skillset that's more than translatable to the step-up in class provided by the Championship.

His immediate future with the League One promotion hopefuls, however, remains somewhat in the balance. Cozier-Duberry's loan deal contains a mid-season break clause, and while Brighton are unsurprisingly pleased with his development and reportedly hold no intentions of sanctioning their recall option, it's an outcome that could well play out at some stage this month.

That's because both Sheffield United and West Brom, alongside play-off chasing pair Bristol City and Preston North End, were all namechecked as potential destinations in a November report from BBC Sport, with Championship proposals said to be on the horizon.

Cozier-Duberry's future is sure to come into question once again before long, and it would be no shock to see a litany of other Championship suitors join the potential race for a hijack of Bolton's agreement with the Seagulls. QPR, then, should be pushing to get to the front of the queue.

QPR should try to beat Sheffield United and West Brom in potential Brighton, Amario Cozier-Duberry transfer race

As mentioned, Cozier-Duberry possesses all the quality to transition into Championship football — and precious few to have watched the gifted wide-man in action for Bolton this term would think otherwise.

His ability to create chances from nowhere, score from just about anywhere and finish off attacking moves with an end product far beyond his youthful years makes the starlet an appealing proposition for Championship clubs in need of added conviction out wide, which is certainly the case for QPR.

Much has been made of the wealth of attacking options at Stephan's disposal, of course. The Frenchman favours a two-up top formation to accommodate both Richard Kone and prolific summer signing Rumarn Burrell, while the likes of Ilias Chair, Karamoko Dembele, Kwame Poku, Koki Saito and even Harvey Vale all represent highly-technical and creative profiles who can occupy a number of positions across the final third.

However, despite QPR's mutli-pronged attacking threat, nobody who isn't a striker has scored more than three league goals under Stephan this term. Meanwhile, central midfielder Nicolas Madsen, defender Jimmy Dunne and Burrell are all tied at the top of the Hoops' assists charts with just three apiece.

Chair and Poku, it must be said, have both endured injury-plagued seasons to date, whereas Dembele and Saito often offer plenty of direct, tricky and energetic quality in transition but seldom have the final ball to match.

Cozier-Duberry, on the other hand, can both start and complete moves with guile, craft, class and composure. That's precisely what QPR's attacking line is missing at this moment of time, and a potential deal for the winger could have a game-changing effect as far as the West London's outfit's Premier League dreams are concerned.