• McCarthy has a £3.5m release clause in his contract at QPR • Hennessey keen to rejoin manager Tony Pulis at West Brom

Crystal Palace are set to sign the QPR goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, which should pave the way for Palace’s Wayne Hennessey to join West Bromwich Albion.

McCarthy has a £3.5m release clause in his contract and appears keen to move back to the Premier League having made only four appearances for QPR last season as the club’s No2 keeper behind Rob Green. Last week, Palace had a bid of around £3m rejected for the former England Under-21 goalkeeper but have raised their offer.

Palace’s Hennessey, who is also valued at £3.5m, was signed as an understudy to Julián Speroni by the West Brom manager, Tony Pulis, while he was in charge at Selhurst Park in January 2014 but has made only three Premier League starts since.

The 28-year-old is desperate for first-team football in order to cement his place in Wales’ team, who are well placed to qualify for next summer’s European Championship. West Brom’s No1, Ben Foster, is sidelined with an knee injury and is not expected to return until October.