After a fairly quiet transfer window at Loftus Road, Steve McClaren has made his desire to make a couple of signings before the transfer window slams shut known.

Much of the focus has, sensibly, been on bringing in new defenders. However, with the sale of Alex Smithies, QPR’s goalkeeping options are smaller than they first appear. They should look to sign Bournemouth goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale on loan.

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Ramsdale is one of the highly promising new generation of English players. He appeared in every match of the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship as England won the tournament, keeping three clean sheets in the process. This summer, he featured for the under-21s as they went on to win the Toulon Tournament.

Domestically, he was signed by Bournemouth for £1 million when he was 18. Since then, he spent the second half of the 2017/18 season at Chesterfield. While he was unable to prevent the Spireites from being relegated, it was a productive loan that advanced his development to no end.

For QPR, Matt Ingram holds the official number one jersey. However, since his highly impressive 2014/15 season at Wycombe Wanderers, he has spent the majority of recent seasons on the bench. Should he go through a poor patch of form, he would not have the reputation to keep him in the side. Joe Lumley suffers from the same position, while Seny Dieng is off to Stevenage.

Ramsdale would not be close to a replacement for Smithies. However, he would add competition and cover in one of QPR’s weakest areas.