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Tottenham want Charlie Austin to boost their attacking options.

Boss Mauricio Pochettino aims to offload striker Emmanuel Adebayor, to Aston Villa, before making a move for the Queens Park Rangers forward later this month.

MirrorSport understands Spurs have already contacted relegated Rangers to register their interest.

Premier League rivals such as Newcastle, West Ham and Leicester are also keen on the 26-year-old, but have refused to meet QPR's £15million price-tag.

White Hart Lane chairman Daniel Levy can afford it, though — and may even throw in a loanee to sweeten the deal.

(Image: Action)

Austin scored 18 Premier League goals in his first Premier League campaign, and earned an England call-up, despite QPR eventually going down.

Rangers head coach Chris Ramsey and director of football Les Ferdinand both used to both work at Spurs, which may help negotiations along.

However, Austin is set to start the season with Rangers, who visit Charlton on Saturday.

Relegated QPR are desperate to cash in on their big-earning stars and reduce their wage bill to fall in line with Financial Fair Play.

(Image: Reuters)

MirrorSport understands they accepted a £1.5m loan fee from Southampton just to get defender Steven Caulker off their books for a year.

But their efforts to move Leroy Fer on have been frustrated as the Dutch midfielder has failed a medical at Sunderland.

That deal, also planned as a season-long loan, is currently off but could be re-structured later in the window — especially if Fer’s injury has improved.