QPR have opened contract negotiations with Spanish midfielder Jordi Lopez according to the player’s agent. Meanwhile Heider Helguson has been called up for international duty in the summer qualifiers.

Lopez won many admirers at Loftus Road last season with his considered and classy displays from the heart of the midfield. As a Paulo Sousa signing on a short term contract many considered him likely to depart Loftus Road this summer but it appears that the former Barcelona and Sevilla player could yet have a role to play.

Lopez’s agent and former QPR player Alex Bonnot told the Kilburn Times: “QPR have offered a contract and Jordi is considering his options. At the moment there are discussions going on. We don't have an agreement yet and there are other clubs interested in Jordi, but he likes it at QPR and I know the club rate him as a player. We are talking and hopefully there will be more news shortly, but obviously the deal has to be right for Jordi.”

Personally I would like to see Lopez stay as he brought some much needed guile and quality to a central midfield often dominated by Leigertwood and Mahon. However with no manager in place the question of just who is deciding he is worth a deal is valid, as is whether or not it’s a good idea to be releasing or signing players that a new manager may have wanted or may not like very much.

Another member of Rangers’ foreign legion has earned international honours this week – Heidar Helguson has been called up to the Iceland squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Holland and Macedonia. Helguson has 37 caps and five goals for his country that faces an uphill battle to qualify from group nine where they are third with four points – Holland are top with fifteen. The Dutch visit Iceland on June 6.

One player definitely leaving Rangers this summer is youth team goalkeeper Reece Crowther who is heading back to Australia, where he grew up, to seek an A League contract following his release from Loftus Road. Crowther told the Kilburn Times: “That's the one thing I'll always be thinking back on, that I didn't pull on the QPR jersey in a competitive fixture. It's still bugging me that I never played in the first team and I feel I've got a score to settle. The game has really started to grow in Australia and I'm going out there to help build up the A-League and get experience, but I'd like to come back to the English league eventually, without a doubt. This is a new challenge. I had some good keepers ahead of me at QPR and it's sometimes harder to break through when you've come up via the youth team.”

Elsewhere Zesh Rehman, freshly released by QPR yesterday, says he is looking for stability in his career and hopes to find that with Bradford City where he spent the end of last season on loan. Rehman said: "It's all about feeling wanted and appreciated as a player and this feels like my club. I've been to six clubs now and I'm looking for a bit of stability in my career for the next two years. I still believe I can play in the Championship without a doubt but I need to be in a position to show that by playing regularly and for a management team that believe in me. The vibes I got from being at Bradford were very positive. I'm pleased that they've made me an offer and hopefully something can be sorted out. I'd rather be at a club that has got ambitions as well."

The rumour mill continues to churn out the name of Jim Magilton as the leading contender for the manager’s position at Loftus Road. Magilton is joined on the Rangers shortlist by Steve Cotterrill, Adie Boothroyd and Colin Calderwood according to the Green Un but has been unable to enjoy similar success at mighty Blackpool where he applied for the job but has not been shortlisted. Blackpool are, according to the bookies, likely to appoint former QPR gaffer Ian Holloway to replace Tony Parkes.

A rumoured summer target of Rangers’ has seen a potential other option disappear today as Sheffield Wednesday have pulled out of the race to sign Dele Adebola. Wednesday boss Brian Laws told the BBC: “Adebola has been offered huge sums to say in the Championship. That's something we don't want to get into and that's something we have dropped at this present time."

Elsewhere in the Championship today the Football League has announced proposals to scrap the transfer window, sign a joint TV deal with the Premiership and place transfer embargoes on clubs that do not keep up tax payments – more details here. On the pitch Southampton defender Claus Lundekvam has been charged with drink driving, Derby defender Andy Todd has left the club to sign for Perth Glory, and experienced midfielder Gary Speed has been ruled out of Sheffield United’s play off final against Burnley on Monday through injury.

Finally in much sadder news, the inquest into the death of a Vietnamese student on the platform at Earls Court underground station has been ruled an accident at inquest. The coroner described the conduct of QPR player Romone Rose, Rangers youth teamer Harry Smart and former R’s Chris Arthur and Kieron St Aimee as inappropriate after witnesses described seeing the four playing around on the platform before Tu Quang Hoang Vu ad Smart were knocked onto the platform infront of an oncoming train. Vu tragically died, Smart suffered a fractured skull. At Westminster Coroner’s Court deputy coroner Shirley Radcliffe, offering a jury a choice between accidental death or open verdict, said: “I'm sure they are going to have to live with the fact that they have been under suspicion for a long time and have possibly, in some way, contributed to the death of Mr Vu. I would like to extend our condolences to Mr Vu's family. He was a young man whose life was cut short tragically."

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