"Can do better" - QPR urged against Blackburn Rovers transfer battle for "average" Swansea City player | OneFootball

Football League World's resident QPR fan pundit discussed his side's reported interest in Swansea City striker Jerry Yates

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

QPR will intend on bolstering the squad across the off-season in a bid to build upon the club's 15th-placed finish in the 2024/25 Championship campaign.

Uncertainty is lingering around Loftus Road at the minute, with Marti Cifuentes remaining on gardening leave for the last two weeks amid the R's search for a new permanent head coach.

Whoever the Spaniard's successor may turn out to be, however, will recognise the glaring need for additional firepower if the R's are to upwardly ascend into potential play-off contention in 2025/26.

QPR ranked 12th in the Championship for goals per match in 24/25 with 1.2, but the contributions from Cifuentes' striking options were a real concern. Michael Frey finished as the club's top scorer with eight goals from 29 appearances, but Zan Celar, a hotly-anticipated arrival from Lugano last summer, scored just twice before seeing his season curtailed by injury all the way back in December.

Signing a new striker is sure to be high up on the list of summer priorities for QPR, who have been linked with a move for Swansea City's Jerry Yates alongside Blackburn Rovers and two unnamed Major League Soccer outfits. The 28-year-old spent the season just gone on loan with Derby County and helped John Eustace's successful survival bid by returning 10 strikes.

A seasoned and experienced frontman, Yates enjoyed a fruitful three-year stint with Blackpool but has never been massively prolific at Championship level and that is a concern for some of the QPR faithful.

QPR urged against Jerry Yates, Swansea City transfer pursuit

FLW asked our resident R's fan pundit, Louis Moir, if he would be happy with the addition of Yates.

In Louis' view, QPR could do much better than pursuing a move for Yates, who he believes to be an "average Championship striker". Indeed, according to Louis, both Frey and Celar already represent better options than the Swansea attacker, and he is unsure if this could be the sort of signing capable of propelling the West London outfit up the table and into the play-off race next term.

"I think Jerry Yates is a player who, for a club that wants to push on for a top-six challenge, could do a lot better than," Louis told FLW.

"He would be in an average side.

"He's obviously got a knack of scoring goals and that's something we've lacked. You could argue that, in an even better team with more chances created, he'd score even more but I'm not sure.

"I just think he's an average Championship striker and if we want to kick on, we can do better than that when it comes to striker signings.

"Realistically, if Zan Celar hits form, he's a better player than Yates and you could argue Michael Frey is as well. So you've got two players there who are probably better.

"I think we can do a whole lot better than him. Some people would say you're turning your nose up at someone who is capable of scoring quite a few goals in the Championship, but I'm not sure.

"I wouldn't be too excited by it and I think we've probably got similar, if not better, already at the club, and we can get better as well. I'd be looking elsewhere."

Swansea City's Jerry Yates stance should be transfer evidence for QPR

Yates is seemingly surplus to requirements at Swansea ahead of the final year of his contract.

Their own stance on Yates, who was loaned out last season and appears to have little in the way of a long-term future in South Wales, should be enough evidence to deter QPR from amplifying their efforts to get a deal over the line.

Swansea enjoyed a late-season surge under Alan Sheehan but still finished just four points and five places above QPR. There is a feeling that the Swans may be more competitive next time out; they will have designs on bridging the gap between mid-table and those pushing for a top-six spot, and QPR should hold similar ambitions.

If Swansea do not deem Yates to be up to the required standard, then QPR really ought to be adopting a similar view and setting their sights higher.