Video: Albion closing in on deal for Matt Phillips

Albion hope to complete the signing of winger Matt Phillips this week despite having a £5m offer turned down by QPR.

The Baggies' opening bid was rejected by Loftus Road bosses over the weekend after positive talks behind the scenes.

Negotiations are set to continue next week and Hawthorns officials are confident they can strike a deal to sign the 24-year-old, who has emerged as one of boss Tony Pulis's leading transfer targets.

Albion believe Phillips is keen on a move to The Hawthorns, meaning settling on a fee with Rangers is the last remaining major stumbling block.

Albion's opening offer was worth around £5m while the London club value the former Blackpool man at closer to £10m, but both sides appear willing to compromise.

Pulis has signed just one player so far this summer in the shape of former Wigan wideman James McClean, who cost around £1.5m.

And he missed out on a leading target when striker Demba Ba rejected offers from European clubs in favour of a big-money move to China.

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However, Albion are pressing on with efforts to strengthen their squad despite Friday's news that a preferred bidder has been handed an exclusivity deal to complete a takeover worth an estimated £150m.

The prospective new owners, who are strongly rumoured to be from the Far East, are expected to complete the purchase of chairman Jeremy Peace's majority stake by the end of July and be in charge for the start of the new Premier League season.

Albion have refused to name Peace's favoured buyers with a Sunday newspaper report yesterday linking billionaire Chinese businessman Wang Jianlin as a possible buyer after he expressed an interest in buying a Premier League club.

However, rumours linking him with Albion are thought to have surfaced via a bizarre Twitter hoax around a month ago.