QPR ready to splash £20m on transfer deadline day in battle for Premier League survival The Queens Park Rangers chairman, Tony Fernandes, is ready to gamble £20million on securing the clubâs Premier League status, tabling bids for Christopher Samba and Peter Crouch which he hopes to finalise on deadline day. Peter Crouch may join up with Harry Redknapp for the fifth time By John Percy and Paul Kelso 10:00PM GMT 30 Jan 2013 CommentsComment The lavish spending on two players who can expect to be paid £70,000 a week for a role in Queens Park Rangers' relegation battle was authorised on a hectic day for the club, who also finalised the signing of South Korean full-back Yun Suk-Young from Chunnam Dragons. Stoke City were on Wednesday night anticipating a bid in the region of £6million for Crouch, who can expect to see his wages rise from around £50,000 a week should he join Redknapp for the fifth time in his career. The striker, 32 on Wednesday, is tempted by the prospect of resuming his relationship with Redknapp, for whom he played at Portsmouth, Tottenham and Southampton. Stoke rejected an earlier bid of £3million plus Jamie Mackie but expect QPR to return with an improved offer. Should Crouch go, manager Tony Pulis will seek to replace him with Darren Bent, out of favour at Aston Villa and subjected to a fresh humiliation on Tuesday night when he was substituted at half-time in the 2-1 defeat by Newcastle. QPRâs boldest move was a £12.5million bid for Samba, enough to trigger the release clause in the centre-halfâs contract with Anzhi Makhachkala. Samba has been at the Russian side since leaving Blackburn Rovers, earning £100,000 a week under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink. It is understood he will have to take a pay cut to around £70,000 to join Rangers. Samba flew in on Wednesday and travelled to London for talks over personal terms. A deal seems certain, however, with Hiddink accepting that the player would not return. Hiddink said: âItâs a shame to talk about this but he didnât even say goodbye, he didnât explain anything to us. Whatever happens to you, you should take into account the people with whom you work. "Itâs not a great situation for us. He started the pre-season camps with us but then suddenly in the last few days he started to make contact with England, thatâs despite still being on contract with Anzhi.â Redknapp is relying on the Samba deal to bolster his defensive options after allowing Anton Ferdinand to join the Turkish side Bursaspor on loan, and seeing Ryan Nelsen leave the club to become coach of Toronto FC. Speaking after seeing his side held champions Manchester City to a 0-0 draw on Tuesday night, Redknapp said: âIâve always taken Crouchy wherever Iâve been: Southampton, Portsmouth, Tottenham . . . I love him. Whether Stoke would sell him, I donât know. "Samba is a player youâd love to have, and the chairmanâs working on several options. Iâve given him a list of players and heâs trying to get one or two for us.â Redknapp believes he needs three or four new signings to give the squad a chance of avoiding relegation, having already added the French striker Loïc Rémy. Yun, 22, made his full South Korea debut last October in a World Cup qualifier against Iran and impressed during the Olympic tournament. QPR overcame interest from Liverpool and Fulham, and now he has been granted a work permit he will be eligible to play for Rangers once his visa is processed.
Crouchie aint lighting my fire to be honest BUT if 'Arry thinks he is what we need then i'm willing to put my trust in him.
I wanted him a year ago but now not so sure but listening to the radio yesterday they were saying HR would be mad to swap Mackie for him plus cash but it was pointed out that Crouch always scores where ever he goes and has a better score ratio than him. So the thought him joining us has changed a little
Goals win games and we haven't been too blessed in that department this season. Crouch will get us goals. I think Mackie has only scored once this season ( v Man U away? ) He has had plenty of oppotunites but has sadly come up short. I love Mackie and his fighting spirit but we did ok without him v Citeh. Fabio can play in his place if need be and do just as much as a good job. I'm trusting Harry on this one. But will be very sad if Mackie has to leave.
IF we are to go 4-4-2 then we have to buy some box to box midfielders because I can't see a pair of CM in our squad that are good both ways
Agreed - think he is a waste of space...goals are mostly flukes and forces teams to play long ball....a step backwards and no sell on value with his wages. cant see too much of the tarrabt / remy interplay with that lanky twat in the line up
TF's obviously decided to twist for both tv money and prem status for his advertising needs. Obviously worked out getting back up from the NPC would be both costly and risky and in no way a forgone conclusion in the seasons to come. Whilst 'Arry's been able to tighten our defence at last, albeit with 7 or 8 players parked up, the inclusion of Samba and Yun can only help to get play working higher up the pitch. In Remy we've got ourselves a runner for the likes of Taarabt and Granero to aim at - but no one other than the ineffectual Zamora / Bothroyd as a standing presence to keep defenders occupied. Even if he never scored again (touch wood that ain't the case if he does materialise), Crouchie would worry the **** out of defenders by his reputation alone. Much prefer him to Odemwhinger in that sense. Fact is we have to score (and regularly so) to win games and secure more points than the other teams we're up against - who've mostly got at least 10 goals more than us. Good man Peter Crouch. Worth his height to us in gold atm. Great time for an R to rejoin the fold. Let's no forget, he did a lot to keep us up last year too!
we dont have no threat from set pieces at the minute, with Samba and Crouch we would be a threat everytime
At this point in time, player or sell on values has no relevence. It is all about trying to stay up. Financially there isnothing more important than finishing 17th or above. That is the be all and end all. It really is all about getting the right people at the present moment in. If it works out then it's a stroke of genius.... If not.. then ....?????
So including remy, we're on target to spend £25-30m just to survive, is there a point where it's not even worth it anymore? I mean we could survive this season and the owners would still lose a sh** tin of money??
