QPR told to 'happily sell' Julien Stephan outcast amid Sheffield Wednesday transfer hint | OneFootball

Football League World's resident QPR fan pundit has weighed in on the future of Murphy Cooper amid a recent Sheffield Wednesday transfer hint

Julien Stephan will face a number of crunch transfer decisions in the coming months as he gears towards his second campaign in charge of QPR, with the current season poised to conclude in an all-too-steady mid-table finish.

The Frenchman has trimmed the fat from his squad at Loftus Road in recent times, and no shortage of departures have been sanctioned in a bid to inject fresh energy into QPR's side and build the foundations for a potential push towards the play-offs.

Further additions, however, will also be needed if the 11th-placed Hoops are to build upon this term's mid-table mediocrity and stake their claim towards top-six contention, with this season marked by signs of promise but a frustrating lack of consistency and well-documented defensive frailties.

The Loftus Road faithful have had much to cheer about in the final third, although Stephan will equally take plenty from the fact that only the two lowest sides in the Championship in 23rd-placed Leicester City and crisis-ridden Sheffield Wednesday have leaked more goals than QPR's 63 at the time of writing.

It's clear that recruiting an authoritative, consistent and capable first-choice goalkeeper is of the utmost importance this summer, with Stephan flipping between both Paul Nardi and Joe Walsh, and that has also called the future of Murphy Cooper into question.

The 24-year-old began the campaign back on loan in League One with Barnsley after spending the previous campaign with Stevenage, and impressed at Oakwell before being sent to Wednesday for the remainder of the season in a January move which was first revealed exclusively by Football League World.

Cooper initially caught the eye at Hillsborough but has since lost his place to the impressive Pierce Charles following the Northern Ireland international's return from injury and his future back in West London remains very much up in the air, although he did recently explain that he would be open to sealing a permanent switch to the League One-bound Owls this summer.

QPR, Julien Stephan sent clear Murphy Cooper transfer advice after Sheffield Wednesday hint

It would appear as though Cooper's immediate priority is establishing himself at QPR, with the shot-stopper admitting to The Star that leaving the Hoops on a permanent basis would represent a difficult decision.

However, Cooper did say that he would be open to the prospect of joining Wednesday once again if he remains unfancied by Stephan, whose position on the ex-Barnsley loanee's future feels somewhat unclear at this moment in time.

Football League World put the question to our resident QPR fan pundit, Louis Moir, and asked him whether he would want to see Cooper heading back to the Steel City.

It's Louis' view, though, that Cooper's time at QPR may be done. He's only ever made two senior appearances for the West London outfit, and Louis has questioned if Cooper will ever be good enough for the Hoops.

Indeed, Louis has urged Cooper to seal a permanent move to Wednesday for the betterment of his career, with any such move potentially dependent on the outcome of David Storch's takeover efforts of the Owls and how lenient the EFL will be with allowing Henrik Pedersen's side to make signings this summer amid transfer restrictions.

"Yeah, I'd happily sell Murphy Cooper," Louis told FLW.

"He's shown what he's capable of in lower divisions, I've just got my doubts about whether he's ever going to be good enough to play for QPR or in the Championship to be honest.

"The problem we have is that when we get these young goalkeepers who've been at the club for a long time and have had the chance, albeit I remember he was thrown into the deep-end because we had nobody else at the time and he did alright, but realistically is he going to be your first choice 'keeper in the Championship?

"No, and it's a shame because with these goalkeepers, they need to go and play football instead of being third-choice or even worse.

"Him going to Sheffield Wednesday (permanently) could really kick his career on. Obviously Sheffield Wednesday, we all know what they've gone through but if they get back on track, that's a big club for him to make a bit of a legacy at potentially.

"If it's there or somewhere else, I think we should look to sell him and that's what will happen this summer. He's got ability, but there are big question marks.

"There's just no chance he's going to be anywhere near being QPR's first-choice keeper and, at his age, he really needs to be playing. He's 24 years old, just go and try to do well at a big club like Sheffield Wednesday and that could boost his career because he's had a couple of decent loans but he needs to be out playing now and that won't be with us."

QPR need to shake-up goalkeeping department this summer

It's bound to be expected that, in the coming months, Stephan will look to induct significant change to the club's goalkeeping department, which lacks real quality and strength in depth for a side with designs on edging closer towards the top-six.

The aforementioned pair of Nardi and Walsh have both failed to convince when handed opportunities, and with 38-year-old Ben Hamer also on the books, QPR require a major shake-up of personnel between the sticks this summer.

Exactly where Cooper figures in that isn't clear just yet, and Wednesdayites would perhaps suggest that the R's academy product is good enough for the Championship and could, at the very least, represent a solid back-up option behind a more dependable and tried-and-tested number one.

However, tfhe act he wasn't kept around this season is telling and you do get the impression that there's every chance he'll be putting pen to paper on fresh terms with the Owls once the rummer rolls around.