Harry Redknapp wants a loan. Toronto wants a permanent deal. Tony Fernandes doesn’t know what he wants.
Despite the conflict, the Queens Park Rangers manager is hoping he can bring everybody together.
“You never know, do you?” Redknapp was quoted in the Daily Mail. “It is a difficult one because of the whole package. We want a couple of loans in. We are looking for loans We are not looking to spend money in January. We bought some players in the summer and we have a good squad.”
However, according to the report, Toronto isn’t interested in loaning Defoe out. Instead, they’d like to keep him, or offload him completely, and that could cause problems. “We’re looking to bring a couple of loans in if we can,” said Redknapp. “That’s where we’re at. We’re not looking to be spending big money in the transfer window.”
Charlie Austin has exploded into the target man role for QPR, but has little help. The 25-year-old has bagged a whopping 11 goals thus far, good for third in the league, one behind Chelsea striker Diego Costa. But with the rest of the Rangers squad only able to chip in nine more, Redknapp would like another option to either play alongside Austin, or give him some rest.
Toronto, meanwhile, turned down a club-record transfer fee for Defoe in the summer,
Redknapp confirmed that with Austin’s contract only running for another 18 months, there could be some uncertainty on his future, but only if it goes until the end of the season without an extension. For now, Redknapp says Austin “isn’t vulnerable at the moment.”