Thousands of young footballers are released by their clubs each year, and more are finding refuge at Queens Park Rangers.

The English Football system produces so many footballers that come summer time, a whole generation of them are released from clubs where they’ve spent so many years of their childhood.

It’s a cruel business but business it is, and if there’s no place for you when you leave adolescence then expect to be released without as much as a thank you. Some turn their focus to life away from the game whilst others remain keen on it, and do their utmost to find a new suitor.

Pre-season sees a lot of clubs in the English Football League take youngsters on trial who've just been released by academies and this is where they get their chance to stay in football, but not all of them make it.

QPR are a team who’ve made use of different markets in recent seasons. They’re not the high-spending club they once were in the Premier League and having served a record-breaking FFP punishment, they’ve since become one of the league’s lowest spenders each season.

Loan and free players have been the focus of their transfer activity of late, and it’s two markets that they've utilised well to bring some fine, young talents into the club.

One Ebere Eze was acquired by the club in 2016 after being released by then-League One side Millwall and has since gone on to become one of the Championship’s best and brightest talents at QPR.

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There’s also Lewis Walker and Aramide Oteh in the works too - the former scoring goals in the development squad and the latter doing the same out on-loan at League Two Bradford.

Both look set to break into Mark Warburton’s first-team in the near future, and the 57-year-old was busy in the summer transfer window as well. A total of 14 players arrived at the club, including both Conor Masterson from Liverpool and Todd Kane from Chelsea.

The pair left their respected clubs in the summer to find first-team action, and both saw QPR as a sustainable choice. QPR has certainly become something of a ‘haven’ for not only young players, but players like Kane at age 26, who’s been a serial-loanee player with Chelsea and felt the time was right to leave the club, and make a future elsewhere.

Youth and sustainability is definitely the focus for Warburton at QPR, as they look to make a brighter future for the club after years of financial controversy, mismanagement and set-backs.