This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
QPR are considering a summer move for Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Taylor Richards, as per a report from Football Insider.
The R's, who will be hoping to challenge for promotion from the Championship when the new campaign gets underway at the end of this month, will have to battle it our for Blackburn Rovers for the 21-year-old's situation.
Richards appeared twice in the Premier League for the Seagulls last time out, spending the second half of the campaign at Birmingham City, however, an injury halted his progress at St Andrew's.
Spending the season before that on loan with Doncaster Rovers in League One, Richards netted ten times and provided a further five assists in a productive stint with the then third tier outfit.
Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts regarding QPR's interest in Richards...
Billy Mulley
I do not personally think that QPR is the best destination for Richards to go to at this stage, with the young attacking midfielder seemingly in need of one more loan spell before he can compete for more regular game time at Brighton.
The reason is pure and simple. Richards will struggle for game time at QPR, especially following the positive update regarding Chris Willock's injury.
I am excited about Richards' progression, and I do believe that he is deceiving of regular Championship football at this stage of his career, however, going to a team with Ilias Chair and Willock there is not the best idea in my mind.
They are two of the best attacking midfielders in the division, automatically diminishing his chances of regular game time.
Ned Holmes
I like QPR's central midfield options but I can't help feeling they look a little short on numbers at the moment.
Sam Field, Luke Amos, Stefan Johansen, and Andre Dozzell are all good players but if Michael Beale is going to line up in the 4-3-3 that we think he is, then more depth is needed.
I'm not convinced that the likes of Charlie Owens and Faysal Bettache are ready to play significant roles this season while George Thomas and Ilias Chair are likely to be used in the front three.
Taylor Richards would help to solve the R's issues with depth and would give Beale a positive thinking central midfielder.
Things didn't work out for him at Birmingham City but we saw at Doncaster Rovers what a talent he is.
On a loan deal, this should be a no-brainer.
Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson
This is an interesting one.
From what I've seen and read of Richards, he is an attacking minded midfield player that likes to get forward and contribute offensively, and the R's have options like that already.
Ilias Chair, George Thomas and Stefan Johansen can all play centrally and contribute with goals and assists, so I just question whether or not Richards would get the regular game time he is looking for in West London.
There is no doubt he is a decent player, and certainly someone that could do with some regular football next season, I'm just not sure QPR is the ideal fit for him this summer.