QPR set to sign Middlesbrough exile Adomah ahead of transfer deadline

Adomah was left out of the squad for the second game in succession as Boro claimed a 3-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, and while Aitor Karanka continues to publicly claim the winger could still have a future on Teesside, The Northern Echo understands there is little chance of him remaining beyond the end of the transfer window.

Having submitted a formal transfer request on Thursday, the 27-year-old has clearly spelled out his desire to move on in the wake of the dressing-room bust-up with Karanka that followed Boro’s 1-0 home defeat to Bristol City.

Adomah questioned the wisdom of his omission from the starting line-up that lost to his former club, with his comments eliciting a furious response from Karanka, who felt that his authority was being undermined in front of the rest of the squad.

While the Middlesbrough hierarchy are yet to receive a formal offer for Adomah, they have fielded a series of inquiries that suggest a move is likely ahead of tomorrow’s 6pm deadline.

There has been contact with Nottingham Forest to discuss the possibility of including Adomah in a deal for winger Michail Antonio, but Forest’s transfer embargo, with its strict limits on how much the City Ground club can pay a new arrival, make it extremely difficult to engineer a deal.

As a result, QPR are regarded as the strong favourites to sign Adomah, with the London club keen to bolster their attacking options in anticipation of the exit of Charlie Austin.

Austin has been linked with a move away from Loftus Road all summer, and while concerns over his medical record have led to a number of clubs, including Newcastle United, opting to shelve plans to sign the striker, he is still expected to move on in the next 36 hours.

Chris Ramsey has been promised some of Austin’s fee to reinvest, and the QPR boss has identified Adomah as a potentially valuable addition.

Middlesbrough would be willing to sell the Ghana international for around £4m, although a season-long loan will also be considered if a permanent agreement cannot be reached before tomorrow afternoon.

The Teessiders are also hoping to make at least one more addition of their own before the transfer window closes, although next month’s Football League loan window means they could still add to their squad at a later date.

Boro’s scouting team have been assessing the merits of Cypriot forward Andreas Makris, who is available for around £500,000 after impressing with Anorthosis Famagusta last season.

The 19-year-old boasts five senior caps for the Cypriot national team, and would be regarded as a promising youngster capable of supplementing the first-team squad rather than a potential first-team regular.

Boro have also been linked with Carlos de Pena, a 23-year-old Uruguayan midfielder who currently plays in South America with Nacional.

Transfer issues overshadowed the build up to Saturday’s win at Hillsborough, and while Karanka has attempted to downplay the significance of Adomah’s exile, it was important the Teessiders emerged from South Yorkshire with a positive result to steady the ship.

“It was a more important result for us than simply just getting the three points,” admitted centre-half Daniel Ayala. “A few things happened last week so we really needed to win this game. It’s a massive thing for us.

“It’s been an eventful week, but as a group of players, we don’t really talk about those things. We just concentrate on the football and that’s why it was very important for us to send out a message and get the win. That’s what we did, and now we can concentrate on MK Dons after the international break.”

Having suffered a 3-2 defeat at Hillsborough last August, Ayala felt Saturday’s result was proof of how far Boro have progressed.

“I think it says a lot about the way in which the team has moved forwards,” he said. “When we played here last year, we didn’t really look like winning. But that wasn’t the case here and that’s a good sign of the way that things have improved.”