"People forget" - QPR: Benrahma and Eze referenced as Adel Taarabt peak value touted | OneFootball

We asked our QPR fan pundit what a prime Adel Taarabt would be worth in the current transfer market

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Adel Taarabt is a QPR cult-hero thanks to his impressive time at Loftus Road where he helped the Hoops win promotion to the Premier League, and his 2010/11 season will go down as one of the best in Championship history.

The Moroccan joined QPR from Spurs in 2009, initially on loan, before joining permanently in 2010, enjoying a stellar 2010/11 campaign under Neil Warnock as the men from Loftus Road lifted the Championship title in 2011.

It was a seriously impressive season for the attacker, and he was named Football League Player of the Year, Championship Player of the Month for August 2010, named in the Championship Team of the Season, and won the Football League's Top Assist provider award.

He scored 19 goals and registered 21 assists in 44 appearances during the 10/11 campaign, and also put in some impressive performances in the Premier League the following season, but wasn't quite able to do it on as consistent a basis.

"£30m-£35m" - Prime Adel Taraabt value debated

We asked our QPR fan pundit, Louis Moir, what prime Taraabt would be worth in the current transfer market, and he believes that the Moroccan international would have been worth a fortune.

Speaking to Football League World, Louis said: "I think in today’s transfer market if we saw what Adel Taarabt do when we won the Championship under Warnock, if he did it now, the interest in him would have been absolutely mental.

“People forget that he was only 21 at the time, and he put in a record-breaking season that you might never see again from someone so talented at this level.

“You see players play in the Championship like your Benrahma’s and Eze’s who move on for bigger money to the Premier League, and we went up, so it’s hard to say whether the interest would have been different now to what it was, but if a player did that you’re looking at least £30m-£35m.

“He was so young, had the world at his feet, the season he put in was mind-blowing, so if you’re talking about prime Adel Taarabt you could even argue £40m, but definitely in that £30m-£35million bracket."

Adel Taarabt will feel that he didn't fulfill his potential

As he showed during the 2010/11 season, Taarabt was unplayable on his day, but fitness issues meant he probably didn't have the career that he should have done.

Following QPR's relegation to the Championship in 2013, Taarabt spent time on loan with Fulham, where he failed to make a big impact, before joining AC Milan on loan, where he fared slightly better but didn't impress too much.

Taarabt's fitness issues were summed up when he returned to QPR in the summer of 2014, with manager Harry Redknapp reluctant to use him due to his lack of fitness, and he made just eight appearances that season, before leaving in the summer of 2015.

He then spent seven years with Portuguese giants Benfica, making just 129 appearances in those seven years, being used as a central midfielder during his time in Lisbon.

The former QPR man then joined UAE Pro League outfit Al-Nasr in 2022, and that's where he remains to this day, with the 35-year-old becoming a key player in the Middle East and wearing the captain's armband too.

He's made an impressive start to the season with five goals and two assists in six appearances so far, and while he's still enjoyed a stellar career playing for the likes of AC Milan and Benfica, you can't help but feel that he should have achieved more.

Taarabt was a mercurial talent during his time in West London, and he would certainly have been worth a fortune in the current transfer market.