Nancy representatives have announced that Samba Dakite will leave the French outfit and join QPR on loan for the rest of the season.

The 23 year-old is currently at the African Cup of Nations with Mali but has been given permission by his international coach to fly to England and undergo a medical at Loftus Road.

The news comes after Alejandro Faurlin suffered an ACL injury in early January and was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Nancy president, Jacques Rousselot, confirmed that the Diakite will be joining the West London outfit on a temporary deal pending a successful medical and will then join on a permanent basis in the summer if QPR are still in the Premier League.

The holding midfielder is also capable of playing in defence and joins Nedum Onuoha and Taye Taiwo as winter signings for Mark Hughes’ side.

The Welshman may have significantly shored up his back line over the past ten days but Hughes refuses to rule out more January signatures and the club continue to monitor several targets.

Should the Hoops attain top flight survival, Diakite’s signing will be expected to cost the club around £3.5m.

The fee is only a portion of Hughes’ transfer kitty – which is reported to be around £25m – handed to the chief by relatively new club owner Tony Fernandes.

The Malaysian businessman is adamant to make Rangers a powerful force in the Premier League and sees an overhaul of playing staff as the way to achieve that goal.