Sources: QPR star Joe Gubbins agrees to join Southend United
Queens Park Rangers defender Joe Gubbins is set to join National League Southend United on loan, Football Insider understands.
Gubbins, 20, is currently down the pecking order in Mark Warburton’s first-team plans.
A QPR source has told Football Insider the club are open to loaning him out to Southend after a spell on loan at Aldershot earlier this season.
The terms of the deal are agreed and the deal is set to be completed soon.
The centre-back, who joined from Southampton in 2017, made his first-team debut for QPR against Swansea City in the FA Cup in January 2020.
Gubbins made his Championship bow on the final day of the 2019/20 season against West Bromwich Albion but has failed to appear in the second-tier since.
In the following season, a short loan spell at Oxford City saw the defender play four times in the National League South.
The youngster signed a three-year deal in October 2020, with QPR holding an option to extend his stay a further year.
Gubbins made three National League appearances during his one-month spell at strugglers Aldershot – but his stay was cut short due to injury.
The Oxford-born defender has failed to gazump Dion Sanderson, Rob Dickie or Jimmy Dunne in the QPR pecking order – despite Warburton opting to deploy three centre-backs this term.
Southend are looking to bolster their defensive ranks following a difficult start to life in the National League.
Relegated from League Two last term, the Shrimpers sit 12th in the fifth tier of English football – 10 points adrift of the play-off places.
In other news, West Ham line up “enormous” offer for England star.