Queen’s Park Rangers crashed out the Premier League with little but a whimper last weekend.
The R’s, who appeared resigned to their fate, were savaged in a 6-0 defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, a ground where they famously grappled with the Blues to almost pull off a shock victory just three years ago.
That fight has been absent at Loftus Road this season, but striker Charlie Austin can at least look back on possibly his finest campaign in professional football. The 25-year-old, who was playing non-league football up until 2009 with Poole Town, has netted 17 goals for his side this season, putting him fourth in the division’s top scorer’s chart.
That’s a remarkable achievement for a man who has had to feed off scraps.
QPR have lost 23 of their 36 games in the 2014/2015 campaign, more than any other side in the league, and have enjoyed an average of just 47% possession.
Austin has had very little of the ball, but when he has had it, he’s often driven it into the back of the net. Forty-four percent of QPR’s 39 goals have been scored by the Englishman who probably doesn’t deserve to suffer the same fate as his teammates in the Championship in August.
Fortunately for Austin, Metro among many believe that Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly ready to offer him a second season in England’s top flight, where he could form a formidable homegrown partnership with Harry Kane.
With Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor ready to leave White Hart Lane this summer, Mauricio Pochettino will be on the lookout for affordable forwards. QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has insisted that Austin will not be sold cheaply should the club receive any bids for the player, but ultimately, the gruesome financial implications for a club who spend so much on player wages could force the R’s into accepting a relatively mild bid.
It is thought that Austin could leave for as little as £10million, and given his fantastic goal return, it could prove to be a shrewd piece of business by Spurs.
Not only has the former Burnley striker scored 17 goals this term, he’s also registered four assists and has an impressive shot accuracy rate of 67%. His ability to hold up the play and dominate his opponents in aerial battles could marry perfectly with Kane’s movement.
Should Pochettino choose to go with a proven Premier League striker this summer over a list of expensive European transfer targets, Tottenham could line up with a strike partnership that have netted 37 goals this season.
At £10m and with a long career ahead of him, Charlie Austin could be the man to propel Spurs into the European places next season.