Queens Park Rangers are planning to hand striker Charlie Austin a lucrative new contract to secure his long-term future at Loftus Road.

Austin has starred for Rangers on their return to the Premier League, scoring six League goals in 10 games.

The 24-year-old was signed from Burnley for £4million in 2013 and agreed a three-year deal worth around £28,000 a week. But Rangers want to tie him down till at least 2018 and are prepared to increase his salary to more than £50,000 a week.

Austin is already catching the attention of rival top flight clubs and is being tipped to earn a call-up to the England squad, although he was left out by Roy Hodgson for the forthcoming fixtures against Slovenia and Scotland.

QPR are fully aware of the prize asset they have on their hands and how his value is increasing due to the fact he is a young English goalscorer performing consistently in the top division.

But with his contract having less than two years left to run, they could find themselves in a vulnerable position even if they stay up.

The club have already seen one quality striker leave this year when Chelsea met the £10.5m release clause Loic Remy had in his contract.

MATCH REPORT: QPR 2 MANCHESTER CITY 2

Remy’s departure just before the summer transfer window closed played a huge part in the team’s struggles early on in the campaign.

Austin does not have such a clause in his contract but QPR want to remove any uncertainty over his future. It was a constant problem when Remy, who also had a season-long loan at Newcastle, was at Loftus Road.

Austin has already been targeted by Hull, Aston Villa and Everton after scoring 20 goals for Rangers in his first season at the club, helping them to reach the Championship play-offs.

QPR v Manchester City - player ratings 22 show all QPR v Manchester City - player ratings 1/22 Rob Green: 5 Made a few decent saves but was caught out of position on more than one occasion. Had no chance with either goal after being completely outdone by Aguero’s brilliance. Getty 2/22 Mauricio Isla: 7 Another thoroughly encouraging game from the full-back, he is really starting to look at home in the Premier League. Lovely pass for Austin’s opener. 3/22 Richard Dunne: 6 Better than some of his performances this season but was lacking a bit of pace at times. Did well overall. Getty 4/22 Steven Caulker: 7 Saved QPR late on when clearing a header off the line. Had a good game. GETTY 5/22 Yun Suk-Young: 6 Another fine game at full-back, has really cemented his place now GETTY 6/22 Eduardo Vargas: 8 Top game. Pace, skill, trickery. Rangers will need him to keep getting better. GETTY 7/22 Sandro: 4 Was hauled off at halftime after a disappointing first 45 and picked up a yellow card. getty 8/22 Karl Henry: 5 Did his job fine with no real highlights or mistakes GETTY 9/22 Leroy Fer: 6 Had one fine effort that went just wide and put in a good shift throughout. GETTY 10/22 Bobby Zamora: 7 Vital performance from the big man. Held it up superbly well and linked up with all his team mates. Made the crucial run to force Demichelis into mistake for second goal. GETTY 11/22 Charlie Austin: 8 Absolutely superb. Took his goal well, could have had at least one other. Great cross for the second goal. All round top quality. 12/22 Joe Hart: 5 Made several good saves to deny Austin especially but again some frustrations got the better of him at times. Got a bit lucky with the disallowed goal. Getty 13/22 Bacary Sagna: 5 Was good going forward and steady in defence but slight lack of cutting edge GETTY 14/22 Martin Demichelis: 5 Played fine but the own goal ruined his display GETTY 15/22 Eliaquim Mangala: 4 Supplied Aguero for the first City goal but that was his only highlight. Often caught out and made several mistakes. 16/22 Gael Clichy: 6 Got up and down the line all game, defending well and providing an attacking option 17/22 Fernandinho: 5 Did OK but taken off after an hour as City tried to take a more attacking shape. GETTY 18/22 Fernando: 5 Made one crucial mistake that nearly let Austin in but put in a good shift otherwise. 19/22 Jesus Navas: 6 Another good game from the Spaniard who was a constant threat with his pace. Lacked a slight bit of quality in final product. GETTY 20/22 Yaya Toure: 7 After a tough week, Toure played well. Produced the assist for Aguero’s second and looked good throughout. GETTY 21/22 Samir Nasri: 6 Looked a touch off the pace and was on the receiving end of a few heavy tackles. GETTY 22/22 Sergio Aguero: 8 City’s best player by an absolute mile. Took both difficult goals with deadly ease and skill. World class performer. GETTY 1/22 Rob Green: 5 Made a few decent saves but was caught out of position on more than one occasion. Had no chance with either goal after being completely outdone by Aguero’s brilliance. Getty 2/22 Mauricio Isla: 7 Another thoroughly encouraging game from the full-back, he is really starting to look at home in the Premier League. Lovely pass for Austin’s opener. 3/22 Richard Dunne: 6 Better than some of his performances this season but was lacking a bit of pace at times. Did well overall. Getty 4/22 Steven Caulker: 7 Saved QPR late on when clearing a header off the line. Had a good game. GETTY 5/22 Yun Suk-Young: 6 Another fine game at full-back, has really cemented his place now GETTY 6/22 Eduardo Vargas: 8 Top game. Pace, skill, trickery. Rangers will need him to keep getting better. GETTY 7/22 Sandro: 4 Was hauled off at halftime after a disappointing first 45 and picked up a yellow card. getty 8/22 Karl Henry: 5 Did his job fine with no real highlights or mistakes GETTY 9/22 Leroy Fer: 6 Had one fine effort that went just wide and put in a good shift throughout. GETTY 10/22 Bobby Zamora: 7 Vital performance from the big man. Held it up superbly well and linked up with all his team mates. Made the crucial run to force Demichelis into mistake for second goal. GETTY 11/22 Charlie Austin: 8 Absolutely superb. Took his goal well, could have had at least one other. Great cross for the second goal. All round top quality. 12/22 Joe Hart: 5 Made several good saves to deny Austin especially but again some frustrations got the better of him at times. Got a bit lucky with the disallowed goal. Getty 13/22 Bacary Sagna: 5 Was good going forward and steady in defence but slight lack of cutting edge GETTY 14/22 Martin Demichelis: 5 Played fine but the own goal ruined his display GETTY 15/22 Eliaquim Mangala: 4 Supplied Aguero for the first City goal but that was his only highlight. Often caught out and made several mistakes. 16/22 Gael Clichy: 6 Got up and down the line all game, defending well and providing an attacking option 17/22 Fernandinho: 5 Did OK but taken off after an hour as City tried to take a more attacking shape. GETTY 18/22 Fernando: 5 Made one crucial mistake that nearly let Austin in but put in a good shift otherwise. 19/22 Jesus Navas: 6 Another good game from the Spaniard who was a constant threat with his pace. Lacked a slight bit of quality in final product. GETTY 20/22 Yaya Toure: 7 After a tough week, Toure played well. Produced the assist for Aguero’s second and looked good throughout. GETTY 21/22 Samir Nasri: 6 Looked a touch off the pace and was on the receiving end of a few heavy tackles. GETTY 22/22 Sergio Aguero: 8 City’s best player by an absolute mile. Took both difficult goals with deadly ease and skill. World class performer. GETTY

But Rangers fear many more clubs are prepared to spend big on the former Swindon hitman, starting in January. There is also concern he could go on the cheap next summer if he does not sign an extension and the club go down.

After Austin scored in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City, manager Harry Redknapp said: “He’s improving, he’s getting better every game and his confidence is high.

“His hold-up play is getting better, his general all-round play is getting better and his confidence is high. When you get a few goals it makes a massive difference.”

Austin said: “I’m doing what strikers are asked to do. I’m lucky the ball has fallen to me in the right places and I’m putting it in the back of the net. It’s all going well for me.”