Premier League side Burnley has enquired about the availability of Nedum Onuoha, who plays as a central defender for Queens Park Rangers and might look to approach him for pre-contract agreements in January. Onuoha has received praise over his loyalty towards QPR after turning down offers to leave the club.
The Championship club are eager to extend the contract of their club captain Onuoha, which set to end by the summer of 2018. The 31-year-old has over 200 appearances for the Hoops and returned to the line-up in their weekend fixture against Leeds United after facing almost 3 months on the sidelines from a hamstring tear suffered against Millwall at Loftus Road.
The U-21 England international made his debut for Manchester City in the Premier League in the 2004-05 pre-season and appeared on 113 occasions for the club before moving to QPR in the January transfer window of 2012. Born of Nigerian descent, he received a call-up to the national team but decided to play for England instead. Failing to break into the English national team Onuoha later declared he would like to represent the Nigerian if called up in the future.
A new contract extension will come with a pay cut in keeping with the latest wage structure set by QPR. Even with a desire to stay at the club, a dip in his wages might force the centre-back to think about the possibility of signing with other English sides.
A return to the Premier League with Burnley will be illustrious for Onuoha. He has so far been instrumental in leading the Rangers and has so far set a striking example of professionalism for younger players.
QPR are currently sitting in the 19th spot of the EFL Championship table under Ian Holloway with a distant possibility of earning a promotion to the Premier League in the near future.
Burnley, on the other hand, are doing pretty well in the Premier League with 28 points and in the 7th spot contesting the likes of Watford, Everton and Southampton to a top half finish by the end of the season. With a strong back line of Ben Mee, James Tarkowski and Kevin Long in the centre back position, Sean Dyche’s men have conceded only 12 goals in 16 appearances in the Premier League.
Judging by their ingenious gameplay a European qualification might not be too lofty a target this season. The only way to preserve this upward trend is by securing a squad with a lot of depth and therefore a man of Onuoha’s quality might just be what the side require next season.
