Tottenham winger could be headed to QPR in January loan deal

One of the big stories of this transfer window will be the Queens Park Rangers shopping list. QPR barely escaped a nasty reckoning when they won the playoff for promotion from the Championship, but they are still carrying an extremely heavy wage bill and a history of bad transfer calls. In most businesses this would lead to belt-tightening. But the Premier League is not most businesses. QPR need to be in the top flight if they want to have any chance of remaining solvent. Right now QPR look to be on the good side of the relegation line, but it's far from certain. They seem likely to look into at least taking on player wages in loan deals this January and could be in for some transfer purchases as well.

Tottenham Hotspur have already dealt with QPR and former manager Harry Redknapp, selling midfielder Sandro for £10m this summer. Now Matt Law at the Telegraph reports that QPR are looking at out-of-favor winger Aaron Lennon.

Queens Park Rangers are ready to make a new bid to sign Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon when the transfer window reopens in January.

Lennon pulled out of a loan switch to Loftus Road just 15 minutes before the summer window closed in favour of staying at Spurs to fight for his place.

But, despite making 16 appearances in all competitions, Lennon has found himself largely pushed out of head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham team.

The Telegraph has an impressive recent track record for Spurs news. Law broke the Swansea swap deal long before it was finalized, and a Telegraph story on Real Madrid's improved bid for Gareth Bale a summer previous marked the turning point in that saga. So the report that Lennon was about to be loaned during the summer window before opting out is quite plausible.

If that is the case, Lennon's struggles to even make the bench for much of the season may have him feeling like it is time to move on. Aaron Lennon has been fantastic for Tottenham for years, and I would have wished he could fit in to Pochettino's squad. On an emotional level, I do not love this. Not even a little bit.

But as with Sandro this summer, it is hard to say that Daniel Levy has a history of letting players go too early. Law reports that Spurs need to clear space on their roster in order to make additions in January and that a Lennon loan would likely be in advance of a sale if QPR were able to stay up. Given QPR's finances, they may well be looking to make loan-to-buy deals contingent on remaining in the league. So it all does make sense.

I may need more time to process this.