When Pape Meissa Ba will fly to the UK to seal QPR transfer revealed | OneFootball

Schalke striker Pape Meissa Ba is expected to arrive in the UK imminently to complete his move to QPR.

Schalke striker Pape Meissa Ba is expected to fly to the UK once he receives his visa documents to complete his move to Queens Park Rangers.

After finishing 15th in the Championship last season, it has been an eventful summer for QPR, and the biggest change at the club has come in the dugout, where former Rennes and Strasbourg manager Julien Stephan has replaced Marti Cifuentes.

Stephan has brought in four new signings so far this summer, with Kealey Adamson, Amadou Mbengue, Kwame Poku and Rumarn Burrell arriving at Loftus Road, while the R's have also tied a number of first team players down to new contracts in recent months, including Murphy Cooper, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Dunne, Steve Cook, Ziyad Larkeche, Sam Field and Michael Frey.

However, it seems the Hoops' summer recruitment drive is far from over, and it was revealed last week that the West London outfit had agreed to sign Ba from Schalke for a fee of around €500,000 plus bonuses, with the two clubs said to have been in "final talks" to seal the deal.

After a few days without any further updates, Sky Germany reporter Patrick Berger has now revealed that Ba is currently in France waiting for his visa documents and permission to travel to the UK, and confirmation of his move to QPR is "only a matter of time".

After a prolific first half of last season in France with Grenoble, during which he scored 11 goals and provided two assists in just 20 games, Ba made the move to Schalke in January.

Ba was unable to reach quite the same heights at the Veltins-Arena, but he was far from the only Schalke player to underperform in what was another disappointing season for the fallen German giants as they finished 14th in the 2. Bundesliga, and he did at least score two crucial winners for the club against Karlsruher and Preussen Munster to help them remain clear of the relegation zone.

Despite that, it seems that new Schalke manager Miron Muslic has decided that Ba is not part of his plans moving forward, and after just six months in Gelsenkirchen, he is now set for a new adventure in English football with QPR.

Once Ba receives his visa documents and the green light to fly to the UK, he is expected to officially become an R's player, and having already reached an agreement with the club, he will put pen to paper on a three-year contract at Loftus Road.

After a successful loan spell at Leyton Orient in League One last season, the Hoops sold striker Charlie Kelman to Charlton Athletic on Sunday for an initial fee of £3.5 million, which could rise to £5 million with add-ons, so the imminent arrival of Ba will be a welcome boost for Stephan as he looks to bolster his forward line.

Given that he scored 27 goals in 61 games during his stunning loan stint at Leyton Orient last season, it is fair to say the decision to sell Kelman has split opinion among QPR supporters, but he failed to score a single Championship goal in five years at Loftus Road, so it is easy to see why the R's felt Charlton's significant bid was too good to turn down.

While there is no guarantee that Ba will adapt to English football, his impressive record in the French second tier suggests he could be a shrewd addition for the Hoops, and at 28 years of age, he should be entering the peak years of his career.

As well as providing QPR with extra firepower, Ba's arrival could also allow Stephan to send Alfie Lloyd out on loan amid reports that the 22-year-old has been offered to Bolton Wanderers, with Leyton Orient also believed to be keen.