Queens Park Rangers centre-back Leon Balogun believes manager Michael Beale was very unselfish to turn down the top job at Wolverhampton Wanderers, speaking to his side's official media team.

The 42-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Molineux last week, with The Athletic journalist David Ornstein revealing last Wednesday that he was at the top of the Premier League side's wanted list.

With that, their midweek game against Cardiff City was expected to be his last in charge of the Championship club, less than five months after he put pen to paper on a deal to become manager at Loftus Road.

The following day, talkSPORT reported that an official approach had been made by Wolves for his services but in a potentially surprising move, Beale decided against making a move back to the Midlands.

This is a big boost for the second-tier side who were sitting at the top of the table before Burnley's victory against Norwich City last night, with the west London outfit enjoying a bright start to this campaign.

And Balogun is one man who appreciates how big of a decision it was for the former Aston Villa assistant head coach to turn down an approach for a top-tier club, even with Wolves currently in danger of relegation.

He said: "It was also a very unselfish act. Ultimately, most of the boys here want to play in the Premier League one day and every manager wants to be there, too.

"It's the best league in the world and there were enough reasons for him to take the job. It was a massive opportunity for him.

"But he's stayed and that's fantastic for us, because he's a special individual who will go a long way."

The Verdict:

It was an unselfish decision from Beale and that will certainly reflect well on him when he applies for future roles - but this may have also been a calculated decision as well with the long term in mind.

Although there would have been the huge short-term reward of managing in the English top tier if he had arrived at Molineux, they were in relegation danger and that would have placed him in a far more precarious position than he's currently in at Loftus Road.

In his current job, he has a real chance of registering a promotion on his CV and that will only benefit him in the future, with his current set of players adapting well to his new ideas.

But his loyalty does need to be commended because a bigger pay packet and a chance to manage at a higher level would have been on offer at Molineux - and it would have been easy for him to jump at the chance of making the move.

Already accustomed to life in the Midlands from his time at Aston Villa too, it would have been an easy decision to make. But as a man born in London, perhaps it's no surprise that he's stayed put in the capital at this point.