"Best player the Championship has ever seen" - QPR: Adel Taarabt bargain transfer claim made | OneFootball

FLW's QPR fan pundit has highlighted the club's best bargain signing

QPR will be hoping to find some bargain signings in the closing weeks of the summer transfer window.

Martí Cifuentes will be keen to bolster his squad where he can before the market shuts on 30 August.

The Hoops will be aiming to finish higher than their 18th place position in the table last season.

Signings like Zan Celar, Jonathan Varane, Paul Nardi, Liam Morrison and Hevertton have already joined the side.

But there could yet be further additions before the end of the month, in preparation for what is set to be a very competitive Championship season ahead.

Adel Taarabt bargain transfer claim

FLW’s QPR fan pundit Louis Moir has claimed that Adel Taarabt is the best bargain signing the club has made in his time supporting the team.

He believes the role the playmaker played in their 2011 promotion alone makes him the best deal they ever got in the transfer market.

“In terms of re-sale value, he isn’t the biggest bargain signing in terms of that side of things, but in terms of what he did for us, Adel Taarabt [was] by far the best player I’ve seen at QPR, by far the best player the Championship has ever seen,” Moir told Football League World.

“For a, I think, reported £1 million at the time when we signed him permanently when we went up as league champions in 2011, there was no disputing the fact that what he gave us that season.

“He obviously had moments in the Premier League for us, but he wasn’t consistent, for what he gave us that was a ridiculous signing if you look at it now.

“19 goals, 15 assists in 44 appearances in that season when we won the league under [Neil] Warnock.

“If that’s not value for money then I don’t know what is.

“Obviously, it was a shame that the consistency didn’t last long when we got promoted in the Premier League.

“He went on loan a few times, but it just didn’t work.

“But, for that one season, £1 million, you can’t go wrong with that.

“I doubt we’ll ever see a player produce those sorts of numbers for a very long time, if ever again.

“So yeah, £1 million for Adel Taarabt, I don’t think many people realise that was all he cost for us to get him on a permanent.”

Adel Taarabt’s QPR stint

Taarabt signed for QPR on an initial loan deal from Tottenham Hotspur in March 2009, before making the move permanent in 2010.

During his time with the club in the Championship, he contributed 27 goals and 20 assists from 92 appearances, helping the London outfit gain promotion in 2011 (all stats from Fbref).

The Moroccan struggled for consistent form in the Premier League, and ultimately moved out on loan to the likes of Fulham and AC Milan before departing on a permanent basis.

Taarabt went on to play for Benfica and Genoa before moving to his current club, Al-Nassr, in 2022.

Taarabt’s Championship form was sensational

Taarabt was one of the most exciting young players coming through in English football when he was helping QPR gain promotion to the Premier League.

The now 35-year-old was an exceptional talent, but couldn’t quite hit the heights that many expected from him.

He still managed to compete across some of Europe’s bigger clubs, and won a Portuguese top flight title with Benfica in 2019.

Taarabt is someone that QPR supporters who watched will remember very fondly for quite some time, even if it didn’t pan out entirely as hoped.