Mark Warburton wants to take former Brentford striker Scott Hogan to QPR on loan from Aston Villa.

Ex-Brentford boss Warburton signed Republic of Ireland international Hogan, 27, for the Bees, who sold him to Aston Villa in January 2017 for £12m.

He has been unable to make an impact at the Midlands club and spent the second half of last season on loan at Sheffield United, who were promoted to the Premier League along with Villa.

He started just five league matches for the Blades, scoring twice, and is set for another move this summer as he is not in Villa’s first-team plans.

Having been signed from Rochdale, Hogan suffered cruciate knee ligament damage on his league debut for Brentford in August 2014 and again, in April the following year, soon after returning to training.

It meant Hogan did not play again until March 2016 but his long-awaited return was an emphatic one – he ended that season by scoring seven goals in Brentford’s final four matches of the campaign.

He scored 14 times during the first half of the following season and was snapped up by Villa after interest from several clubs.

Hogan has struggled for fitness and form since that big-money move but recently-appointed QPR manager Warburton believes he can get the best out of him and wants to bring him back to west London.

Hogan’s wages could be a stumbling block for Rangers but most of the other Championship clubs likely to be keen on him are similarly affected by Financial Fair Play rules.

So, with Villa keen to offload Hogan and the player believing he needs to move in order to play first-team football, Warburton is hoping a deal can be done.

Warburton also wants to bring in youngsters on loan from Premier League clubs and plans to offload Matt Smith, who is wanted by Millwall, and keeper Matt Ingram.





