Michael Laudrup has emerged as a strong contender to be named as the next Queens Park Rangers manager, after widespread reports linked the Danish coach with the vacancy at Loftus Road.
Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood was the early front-runner to replace Harry Redknapp at QPR, but a tweet from club owner Tony Fernandes on Tuesday suggested he was close to appointing his 'dream manager' and hinted it was not the candidate most in the media had been expecting to arrive at the club.
The Telegraph and the Guardian have both reported that Sherwood is out of the running to take over at QPR and former Swansea boss Laudrup has emerged as the favourite, even though compensation may need to be paid to Qatari club Lekhwiya, where he has been working in recent months.
The appointment of Laudrup would be a bold move by Fernandes, with the coach who guided Swansea to League Cup final success in 2013 leaving English football under something of a mysterious cloud as his spell at the Welsh club unraveled a year after his historic Wembley triumph.
Reports say Laudrup is keen to make a return to English football, with the news that Sherwood is no long in contention for a job many believed he was certain to accept following similarly brushes with Premier League jobs at Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion this season.