Multiple sources are reporting tonight that Air Asia tycoon and Formula 1 Team Lotus owner Tony Fernandes is poised to buy a majority share of Queens Park Rangers.

Supporters have been bracing for news of an ownership change since Thursday, when the club's official website and twitter feed carried a story announcing that the club were in discussions with a "new party" regarding an ownership takeover. Majority Shareholder Bernie Eccelstone had previously offered his 62% holding in the team for £100m pounds but an earlier deal, believed to have involved former Vice-Chairman Amit Bhatia and minority Shareholder Lakshmi Mittal, fell through.

Fernandes previously failed in a bid to purchase West Ham in 2010.

No deal has been completed at this time, though reports in the Daily Mail and London Evening Standard are reporting that Fernandes may purchase a 51% stake in the Company, gaining control from Eccelstone and business partner Flavio Briatore. Perhaps the most positive news is this snippet from the Evening Standard: Standard Sport understands Fernandes is flying out to the club's pre-season training base in Italy tomorrow to meet with Warnock and discuss plans for the new season, including some more transfer targets. It is too early to know the final result, but this should be encouraging news for QPR supporters. Countless blog posts, newspaper articles and online comments have been devoted over the past several months to the spending habits of the current owners. The recent dust up over Neil Warnock's candid comments that they were not prepared to spend to improve the club, despite the ticket price increases and increased television revenue, further infuriated the club's fan base. If indeed Fernandes is coming on board, and quickly, the hope has to be that he will invest some money in Warnock's squad. As the Cesena game exposed on Wednesday, play at the wings and left/right back are areas that need addressing. Prior to this news, the brightest star on the transfer horizon was out-of-favor Southampton winger Jason Puncheon, a target that does not inspire much adulation amongst the Loftus Road faithful. While Neil Warnock has done a superb job so far identifying free transfer targets in Jay Bothroyd, Danny Gabbidon and Kieron Dyer, having an owner willing to invest in the team's players would be a relief to Hoops fans. The story is still developing and I will update this post when more becomes clear. For now, R's fans are tentatively hopeful that a new owner is on the way, with a new philosophy and a bit of cash to splash. Tweet Follow ESPNsoccernet's Football Correspondents on Twitter Comments Posted by Doug on 07/30/2011 If this deal materializes time will tell how good it is for the club and the fans.We swap a Billionaire with no real love of football who is a Chelsea fan and a meddling Italian for a West Ham fan of Malaysian descent... We also swap Billionaires who would not put their hand in their pocket to invest in the team whilst putting up season tickets 40% for a man merely worth 330 million according to Forbes . Hopefully he will bring back the family atmosphere to our club which was lost in the arrogance and extravagance of Briatores " Boutique " and will back Neil Warnock who has done wonders on what has proved to be an increasingly limited budget. QPR and CMOB Posted by Grant on 07/30/2011 *crosses fingers* bye bye orange and the midget Posted by Gavin Dyer on 07/31/2011 An exiled QPR fan, loyal follower since 1966, it will be a major step forward when this deal goes through. QPR need owners who have a love for the game, and like many of the big clubs in the EPL, are prepared to spend, spend, spend, as it is the only way to be successful. Look at Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal - only successful due to big money backers! So, come on you R's and make us a proud West London team again... (kiss my a** Chelsea) Posted by mike c on 07/31/2011 Warnock needs someone who is a lot more interested than the current owners or its back to the championship.It appears that it is painfully obvious that you dont buy a football club thats in the premier league to make a profit unless a very rich guy wants an expensive hobby ,in order for that to be the case the owner has to be in love with the game.Rangers supporters are going to find out soon.I hope they can make a go of it but i think the epl has out priced itself for the lesser clubs who when they get there this massive reality check hits home.There is always someone ready to come in spinner which is amazing.Lets hope the world doesnt run out of ego boys cause they keep the grass roots of the epl alive.If we go on history then QPR have never been able to compete with its london mates, its always been a refuge for london stars in the twilight of their careers, great atmosphere for the 25k or so fans but the big time has never lasted more than a couple of seasons ,i hope this time they can Posted by Dan on 07/31/2011 EPL fans are understandably a bit obsessive about the net worth of their owners....no doubt its proven decisive with some clubs.....but don't miss the bigger picture, which is that smart ownership is at least as important as wealthy ownership. The guys who bought Liverpool aren't nearly as rich as plenty of other ownership groups around the league, but they bring a ton of energy and commitment to the game and have been good at what they do for a while. I don't know anything about this guy, other than he's been successful in racing, but just saying don't get stuck on bank accounts.   Post your comment Name: Email Address: Comments: characters left