Queens Park Rangers have expressed their interest in defensive duo Michael Hector and Alfie Mawson from London rivals Fulham, according to West London Sport.
However the Hoops’ pursuit of both centre-backs could have already hit a road block with the Championship’s third-placed side said to not be willing to sanction a deal for either player right now.
Mark Warburton’s side were trying to secure a deal for Bournemouth defender Steve Cook, but the 30-year-old opted to make the move to Nottingham Forest instead.
That has left Warburton with a decision to make and he’s pinpointed Hector and Mawson as two players who he would like to bring to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
Mawson was a 2018 addition for the Cottagers from Swansea City, with Fulham paying a fee in the region of £20 million for his services but found himself out of favour in the 2020-21 campaign under Scott Parker and ended up at Bristol City on loan but missed a lot of that spell with a knee injury.
Having played six times in the Championship this season under Marco Silva, Mawson hasn’t featured since early November, whilst Hector has only played three times in the league this season before dropping back to the substitutes bench when Tosin Adarabioyo returned from suspension a few months ago.
Hector joined Fulham in 2019 from neighbours Chelsea and has only made 30 league appearances for the club since his debut in January 2020.
It’s clear to see that Warburton is desperate to add some experience at the back to play alongside Rob Dickie and Jimmy Dunne.
Both Mawson and Hector would provide just that but despite the fact they’re not getting game-time at Craven Cottage, you could potentially understand why Marco Silva wouldn’t want to let them go.
They’d be left short at the back even if just one left the club and they could be directly strengthening a promotion rival with the R’s just four points behind them in the table.
Wages would perhaps be an issue as well with both players likely not to be on small money but the closer to the end of January we get, the opportunity to sign at least one of them could come about if Fulham can get another defender in through the door.