Jones: “We all know he wants to go somewhere else, and we’ve known since the last kick of last season”

QPR assistant manager Mick Jones is expecting Adel Taarabt to leave the club in January, and says only an injury to another midfielder will allow him to play for Rangers again.

Taarabt has not featured since his below-par performance in Rangers’ 3-1 defeat at Tottenham on October 30, and Jones suggested that exodus is unlikely to end any time in the near future.

The want-away 22-year-old came close to moving to French side Paris Saint-Germain during the summer, only to be left frustrated after the transfer fell through at the last minute.

“One way or another it’s got to come to some sort of conclusion in January, Jones told London24.com. “One of our midfielders will have to get injured for him to get into the team.

“Would we like to keep him? No, because we all know that he wants to go somewhere else, we’ve known that since the last kick of last season.

“He nearly went to Paris Saint-Germain, and that only broke down because of the finances more than anything else. [PSG manager] Leonardo wanted him, but they weren’t prepared to pay one penny more than what was on offer.

“That was under the previous owners, under the present set-up I think he would have gone because Neil would have handled it. I’d be surprised if he was still here in February.

“It’s a double-edged sword; we’ve got to look after our own team and people have got to get into that team on merit. We can’t just put him into the team to sell him.”

PSG are expected to renew their interest in January, and Jones believes a move to France would suit Taarabt perfectly.

“He wants to play abroad, he’s always told me personally that he wants to play in certain countries,” Jones added. “He’d like to play in his homeland obviously. PSG was almost a dream move for him, and he’d walk to Marseille, that’s his home town and that’s where his family is.”

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