Queens Park Rangers have rejected a £4m bid for Luke Freeman from fellow Championship side Blackburn rovers, according to Sky Sports' Lyall Thomas.

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26-year old Freeman is highly-rated at Loftus Road, but has also fallen into the sights of Tony Mowbray who sees him as perfect to join Bradley Dack in the Rovers midfield.

Freeman usually operates on the left side of the park, either as a winger or an orthodox left midfield player.

However, Steve McClaren has rejected the bid, intent on keeping his best young players at Loftus Road.

Freeman, who has England U16 and U17 honours, is seen as vital to the development of the young QPR side.

The 5ft 9in player was released by Charlton as a youngster for being 'too small', but he rebuilt his career with Gillingham, Stevenage and Bristol City before joining QPR in January 2017 for an undisclosed fee.

He played 45 Championship games under Ian Holloway last season, scoring five times. That took his career total to 331 senior appearances with 36 goals.

The Verdict

QPR are eager not to sell any of their young players this window, with Freeman heading up a queue including Paul Smyth, Ryan Manning and Ebere Eze.

£4m might not prise him away from Loftus Road, but there will surely be a trigger point at which Steve McClaren finds it too hard to resist. Whether Blackburn can hit that figure remains to be seen.