"Hasn't settled in" - QPR summer transfer exit touted for £2m player who "goes missing" | OneFootball

Nicolas Madsen hasn't lived up to expectations since his arrival from Westerlo

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

After a brief flirtation with a Championship play-off chase, QPR's 2024-25 season has somewhat petered out, with a mid-table finish now in their sights.

Five defeats from their last seven league matches prior to the international break has seen the R's slip down the table and into 15th position, which will no doubt disappoint head coach Marti Cifuentes.

QPR's matchday squad looks somewhat different to what it did last season, with one of the summer of 2024's biggest recruits being Westerlo midfielder Nicolas Madsen.

The Dane cost an initial £2 million, having scored 13 goals in the Belgian Pro League last season, but he hasn't made the impact in the Championship that many would have expected.

Nicolas Madsen tipped for QPR summer exit after disappointing impact since £2m transfer

For much of the first half of the 2024-25 season, Madsen was a regular starter in midfield under Cifuentes, but since the end of December, the Scandinavian's game-time has started to wane.

Madsen has not started a league game since December 11, and FLW's Hoops fan pundit Louis Moir believes that the 24-year-old may be one of the first names on the chopping block when it comes to a potential summer 2025 exit from Loftus Road.

"I can potentially see Madsen leaving in the summer," Louis told FLW.

"I just feel he hasn't settled in. He can't buy a game at the minute, he cannot get any minutes under his belt. I can't see where he's going to fit in, and it's a shame because I think the club might think we may sort of need to recoup some of the money we spent on him.

"He was one of the big signings for us last summer, and right at the start when he came in, he played a few games and he looked okay, and he's obviously technically gifted, but he just goes missing, he just doesn't look like he's going to fit well into the Championship.

"If he was to leave, it would be a signing that hadn't worked out at all and he wouldn't have been missed in the slightest, but I really do believe that the club will think that we've spent a lot of money for us on him, he isn't playing - where in that midfield is he going to fit in?

"The club might look to get rid, recoup some money and put that into someone else. It's a shame because there's obviously a player in there, but it may be one where he does not fit into this division, the physicality side of it, he's probably used to having a lot more time on the ball - you don't get that, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up leaving and it turns out he was one of those that just didn't fit."

Nicolas Madsen departing QPR would be best for all parties this summer

It feels inevitable now that given his lack of game-time in recent months, Madsen will not be a QPR player come the start of the 2025-26 season.

There was a bit of promise showed at first, as Louis pointed out, but that was not consistent in the end, and he can be safely labelled as a bit of a transfer bust from the west London outfit.

A sticking point in a potential Madsen departure though may be his wages - Capology estimate that his summer move put him on a £12,500 weekly wage, and should he theoretically make a move back to Belgium, or even a club in his native Denmark, then it may need the R's to pay a fraction of his wages, if he departs on loan.

There may be a club out there willing to give QPR their £2 million back from last summer that they paid, as there's clearly a talented player there based on his Belgian form, but it's just not working out for Madsen in England and a parting of ways would be best for all concerned.