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QPR target Aston Villa captain Ron Vlaar

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Queens Park Rangers were today trying to tempt Aston Villla owner Randy Lerner to cash in on captain Ron Vlaar this summer.

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Newly-promoted Rangers have rekindled their interest in the Holland World Cup star after losing another of their targets, Steven Caulker, to Crystal Palace.

But this latest move by Rangers is sure to be just the starting point of a testing summer for Villa amid the turmoil of their ownership crisis.

The Dutch international defender is a vulnerable target on the summer marke,t because he is into the last year of his Villa deal.

Unless Lerner commits to a lucrative new deal, the player will be advised to run down his contract.

That will put the American owner, who has pulled the plug on Villa and is actively seeking a buyer, under pressure to cash in while he can before Vlaar walks away with a free transfer in 2015.

Vlaar is a hot item this summer after producing a string of top-class performances in Holland's run to the World Cup semi-finals.

Serie A club Roma were also linked to the player at the weekend – but the reality is that these are likely to be the opening shots in a transfer war that could run all the way to deadline day at the end of next month.