George Burley admitted he cannot guarantee Theo Walcott will remain a Southampton player beyond the January transfer window as speculation surrounding the teenager continues to mount.

Walcott is reported to be on the verge of a move to Arsenal, although Burley refused to confirm any deal has been struck after the Saints lost 1-0 to Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.

Instead Burley insisted 16-year-old Walcott remains in his plans for the Saints' future.

"I don't know what will happen tomorrow," quipped the Scot.

"I might not be here myself, who knows?

"I won't guarantee anything, but as far as I'm aware, nothing has changed."

Saints are believed to be hopeful of retaining Walcott's services on loan should he head to Highbury, a move that appeared to be edging ever closer when chairman Rupert Lowe and director of football Sir Clive Woodward visited the Arsenal training ground on Thursday.

"We're planning ahead with Theo at the club," added Burley. "He's done very well for us and we want to keep him for as long as possible.

"He's a fantastic talent. When you've got a talent like that there is always going to be speculation but the kid handles it well - he's experienced it for the past six months."

Walcott found QPR in no mood to provide the platform to showcase his talents, however, as a Richard Langley penalty proved enough to sink the Saints.

"He looked lively," continued Burley.

"He did well on a number of occasions and made a great run for the penalty."

Unfortunately for Burley, the penalty earned by Walcott's surging run 14 minutes from time was squandered by Nigel Quashie, who smacked the ball on to the post against his former club.

"In the second half we got on top," added Burley. "We pinned them back, got the penalty after a good move and unfortunately we missed it.

"If we had scored that, I think we'd have gone on to win the game."

Burley admitted he is close to bringing in players to boost his flagging squad, who are now well off the play-off pace following a fifth defeat in six league games under Burley.

"We've made offers for three or four players and we are close to bringing in one or two in the next few days," he said.

"We've got a lot of hard work to do and it's not going to change overnight. It's going to take time.

Rangers boss Ian Holloway admitted he was surprised to see Walcott in the starting line-up due to the publicity of the past week.

"I didn't expect him to play," said Holloway.

"But he showed his quality in flashes and you could see why everyone is talking about him.

"But we've got some decent kids of our own and I'm quite proud of them."

Holloway was delighted with the way his side bounced back from an FA Cup mauling at the hands of Blackburn last week.

"That looked like my team today," he continued. "We didn't get close to Blackburn last week but that was better.

"They've obviously got quality kids but we got in close, got in tight and got in their faces.

"We rode our luck a bit with the penalty, but I enjoyed that performance. We looked like a proper team."

Meanwhile, Burley revealed Southampton have agreed an undisclosed fee with Stoke for defender John Halls. The player is due to hold talks with the south-coast club on Monday.

The Saints boss said: "John is 23 and a very good defender who has done well with Stoke. He is out of contract in the summer, and I hope we can get him in.

"He is very good on the ball and a quality passer and will certainly add strength to the squad.

"But we have made offers for two or three others too, and I am hoping to hear on those soon."