Exclusive: Celtic and Leicester City told they'll "regret" transfer miss | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively to FLW, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has claimed that those who missed out on Richard Kone could come to regret having done so.

With a draw in their opening League match of the season and a narrow defeat in the EFL Cup, QPR have had a mixed start to the new season, but they have scored one big victory with the signing of Richard Kone.

Kone, who scored 21 goals in all competitions for Wycombe Wanderers last season, was very much in demand over the summer, but it was something of a surprise when Queens Park Rangers saw off opposition from Leicester City and Celtic to secure his signature.

Rangers finished a lowly 15th in the Championship last season, but the arrival of Julien Stephan as head coach has been part of a significant rebuild over the summer, and this includes the arrival of Kone.

Nine new players have arrived at Loftus Road, and the club's interest in younger players is such that none of these nine are 25 years old or over.

"He'll have seen a big opportunity" - Lee Hendrie believes that those missed out on Kone will regret having done so

Football League World have spoken exclusively to Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie about this transfer, and he believes that Celtic and Leicester will regret having missed out on Kone: "I think to be quite honest yes, they will regret it. I think Leicester have a bit more strength, but QPR have a younger squad and he'll probably get more game time there than at Celtic or Leicester and that might have been an important part of the decision. Between them and Swansea, it would have been between those two."

Hendrie believes that the decision-making process for the player might not have been what many would have expected, and that Kone's choice may have been influenced by the project being undertaken at Loftus Road: "Celtic and Leicester would have been attractive, but they have more strength in depth in their squads, and I think he'll have looked at that, and he'll have seen a big opportunity in what QPR are doing."

But the Sky Sports commentator believes that Kone is definitely a good signing for QPR: "I think he's a really good signing. He showed how good he was last season. He's still really quite raw but you can tell he can be worked with and there could be a really big player in there. So I think there'll be clubs who'll be really disappointed that they didn't get this signing, but QPR will be over the moon that they did."

QPR have sold themselves to Kone on a youth-based project at Loftus Road

Richard Kone's 21 goals for Wycombe Wanderers in 2024-25 were a real statement from a player who just a year earlier was playing in the Essex Senior League for Athletic Newham, the eighth tier of the game in this country, in front of two-digit attendances.

Having made that big leap into the professional game, there would have been a temptation to see how far up the game he could push. Celtic offer 50,000-plus crowds for home matches and European football. Leicester offer the opportunity to push hard for a return to the Premier League, albeit with the threat of a points deduction for PSR breaches hanging over their head.

But what Queens Park Rangers are offering is different. They have focused on bringing through younger players, and for a young player - Kone himself is only 22-years-old - to be playing in a team which is centred around young players has clearly proved to be an attractive option. They clearly sold their vision to him very effectively indeed.

Bigger clubs tend to have stronger squads and greater strength in depth, and this can risk limiting game-time for younger players. QPR may offer Richard Kone regular first-team football and a project to sink his teeth into. Sometimes, heading for the bigger club and the greater expectation levels isn't the wisest decision that a player can make.