Carvalho loan set to be 10th QPR signing
QPR manager Mark Hughes has stepped up attempts to bolster a defence that shipped five goals on Saturday by agreeing a loan deal with Real Madrid for former Chelsea centre-back Ricardo Carvalho.
Hughes has already struck a £9m fee with Tottenham for England’s Michael Dawson, and hopes to agree terms with both him and Portuguese veteran Carvalho, 34, before the weekend.
If the pair join it would take QPR’s summer recruitment into double figures, following a drastic close season overhaul of a squad that has also seen 13 fringe players depart Loftus Road.
Carvalho, who has made 41 appearances for Real since moving from Chelsea two years ago, would be the second former Blues star to arrive at their west London rivals this month, after full-back Jose Bosingwa.
Dawson, 28, has been told he will not be first choice under new Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas and would cost QPR around £7.5m up front, with a further £1.5m depending on performance.
QPR suffered a damaging 5-0 home defeat to Swansea, who have been widely tipped for relegation, in their first game of the new Premier League season at the weekend.
Tottenham, who sold another centre-back in Sebastien Bassong to Norwich on Tuesday, have also shorn midfielder Tom Huddlestone from their squad, sending him on a season-long loan to Stoke.
SHOPPING SPREE
QPR’s summer signings
■ Jose Bosingwa (free)
■ Ricardo Carvalho (R Madrid, loan)*
■ Dawson (Tottenham, £9m)*
■ Samba Diakite (Nancy, £5m)
■ Fabio da Silva (Man Utd, loan)
■ Robert Green (West Ham, free)
■ Junior Hoilett (Blackburn, tribunal)
■ Andrew Johnson (Fulham, free)
■ Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham, free)
■ Ji-Sung Park (Man Utd, £2m)
*to be completed