Leeds Director of Football Victor Orta has landed a mega boost in the race to land Massimo Luongo as Queens Park Rangers’ Sporting Director Les Ferdinand has insisted “all our players are up for sale” in an interview with The World Game.
Reports emerged during the week that manager Marcelo Bielsa is keen to bring the Australian international to Elland Road ahead of the new Championship campaign, but would face competition from promotion rivals Nottingham Forest.
Rangers are not expected to put up much of a fight if someone makes contact over a move for the defensive midfielder because the 26-year-old will enter the final twelve months of his contract on July 1.
The Loftus Road outfit’s financial predicament also makes it impossible for the Rs to extend his current deal because he would need to accept a pay cut to remain in West London after they accepted a $76million (£59.9m) settlement with the EFL, having breached the profitability and sustainability regulations in 2014.
What the London-based outlets reporting our interest did not claim, though, was the fee QPR may demand for someone out-of-contract in a year. Australian publication The World Game, however, understand Ferdinand would reluctantly accept an offer close to $7million (£5.5million), as the 42-cap ace may otherwise run his contract out so that he can leave for free in the summer of 2020.
“He’s [Luongo] relatively young and has the opportunity to push on,” Ferdinand said. “He has a year left with us, but if he does go this summer, he might be able to kick on a little bit more.
“Mass is one of those who, back in our Tottenham days, I thought he was going to push on. For me, if he added goals to his game he would be playing in the Premier League right now. It’s the one part of his game which he hasn’t been able to improve on.
“It’s because of that he’s probably remained in the Championship, and not gone to where he thought he might be heading.”
In a further boost to Bielsa and Orta, Ferdinand added that all of QPR’s players are up for sale, with the boss also thought to be interested in Luongo’s teammate Luke Freeman.
“All our players are up for sale,” Ferdinand added. “There has been a bit of interest for Mass.
“We are a club that if the right offer comes in for one of our players – especially with the Financial Fair Play situation – we have to look at everything.
“It’s not just Mass specifically, it’s all the individuals at the football club.”