EXCLUSIVE: Charlie Austin has dismissed speculation linking him with a move away from Loftus Road.

Sunderland and Everton have been linked with a move for the former Burnley striker but the 25-year-old insists that he is happy to remain in west London.

He told the Times: “I am happy at QPR, there is no reason for me to look anywhere else. I am happy to be here.”

Austin scored 20 goals last season and admits after seeing Adel Taarabt perform in training he would relish the opportunity to link up with the Moroccan in the top flight.

Taarabt, 25, was sent out on loan to Fulham last summer before spending the second half of the campaign at AC Milan – where he is keen to return on a permanent basis.

Austin said: “He has got some skills. If he stays it would be great because it would be great to work alongside someone like that.”

Taarabt was left out of the squad which travelled to Germany for two pre-season matches, fuelling speculation that his time at QPR will soon be over – and Austin admits anyone who comes into the dressing room needs to put the team first.

He said: “When you go on pre -season tour the group becomes closer. I mean there’s nowhere to go – you eat, sleep and drink together. That will be good for the team.

“If you look at the performances we put in last year we definitely won the fans over throughout the season.

“We started off well and then we had that little blip after Christmas but what we showed against Wigan and the fight we showed as a team at Wembley was second to none.”

Austin is delighted Wembley hero Bobby Zamora has agreed a new one-year deal and is looking forward to playing alongside new signing Rio Ferdinand.

He said: “I’m over the moon for Bob and glad he’s still here. Big players score big goals.

“It’s exciting to be playing with someone like Rio and learning from him. To work with someone like that will be great for me and for the team.

“His experience is second to none. He’s won the Premier League and the Champions League and played for his country, so for him to come in with that experience is brilliant. From what I’ve heard he’s great with the young lads too.

“It’s exciting times at QPR. We are a club on the up, just been promoted and we feel like we can carry on what we created last season. There’s no reason why we can’t.”

Austin played alongside a long list of strikers last season and with the club not interested in bringing back Kevin Doyle, Ravel Morrison, Will Keane or Modibo Maïga on a permanent basis he will have to start again when a new face arrives.

With speculation rife on social media about who may or may not join the club, Austin is glad he made the decision last season to open up a Twitter account – although he has a long way to go to get a following like teammates Joey Barton and Rio Ferdinand.

He said: “I tweet a lot of rubbish – I don’t really get into too much.

“It’s alright – if people want to write stuff to me then they can.”

Follow me on Twitter @RobBrennan82