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...

Queens Park Rangers are in the hunt to sign Southend United striker Charlie Kelman, and have had their first bid rejected by the League Two side for the player, as per Echo News.

The 18-year-old has been a player in demand in the last few months with Spurs and Swansea also having bids snubbed for the player.

He's scored eight goals in 35 appearances for the Shrimpers and is being courted by QPR as they aim to provide some assistance to Lyndon Dykes in attacking areas.

So, what do you make of QPR's pursuit of Kelman? Good potential signing?

The team here at FLW discuss....

George Dagless

QPR are being clever here.

It's clear for all to see Kelman has the ability and potential to be playing higher than League Two and the R's know that they can turn such players into real gems.

At Southend things are quite tight to say the very least - they make QPR look like oligarchs - and though they'd like to keep Kelman they surely know it's going to be tough to try and keep him.

QPR will likely get him for a good price, be able to develop him - like they did Ebere Eze and have with Ilias Chair and Bright Osayi-Samuel - and then have him as a key player, before potentially making a big profit.

He won't play straight away I don't think, perhaps a loan back to Southend or League One would happen, but in the long term it's a good signing for sure.

George Harbey

This would be an exciting one.

Kelman is obviously a huge talent with great potential and he looks set to have a really bright future wherever he next finds himself playing.

He scored seven goals in League One last season, which is impressive for many different reasons. One of those is because he's only 18 years old, but he also played only 19 times and played for one of the worst-performing teams in League One, so in a successful side, he could be a revelation.

I don't think he'd be a regular starter for QPR by any means, though, and I think the club should continue to put their faith in Lyndon Dykes and maybe bring in another experienced centre-forward to bolster their attacking ranks, as they lost a lot of goals in Ebere Eze and Jordan Hugill over the course of the summer.

But Kelman could be an exciting addition and a useful bench option, and Mark Warburton is a manager who knows how to get the best out of young players, as proven by the progress of Ilias Chair and Luke Amos.

 

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Alfie Burns

I’m not sure Kelman would be involved right away, but there’s definitely scope - if the deal is done - that Kelman will get games.

He’s scored goals lower down the EFL and, given his potential, Warburton would surely like to get his teeth into the player.

There’s a lot of work to do with the 18-year-old, but all the basics are there and it could be a very good signing for QPR.

That’s probably in the long-term, but given Kelman’s potential or lack of striker at QPR, there’s potential for Kelman to be involved this season, should he sign.