QPR should try to give Marti Cifuentes what they gave Harry Redknapp in 2013 | OneFootball

Harry Redknapp was handed a QPR gift in the form of Loic Remy back in 2013, and a similar present for Marti Cifuentes wouldn't go amiss

Although he was ultimately unable to retain QPR's Premier League status, the signing of Loic Remy in January 2013 offered an invaluable boost to then-manager Harry Redknapp, and it's the sort of acquisition which Marti Cifuentes is currently in desperate need of.

The R's infamously made a number of catastrophic, ill-guided signings between 2011 and 2015, where they chucked away eye-watering amounts of money on big-name big-earners who ultimately flattered to deceive.

Remy, however, was the exception to an otherwise destructive pattern, proving himself to be a rare hit in Loftus Road at a time when transfer successes were few and far between.

Indeed, QPR's spending around the time of Remy's arrival was so disastrous that their accounts from the 2012/13 Premier League season showed a wage bill of £78 million, at 128% of the club's entire turnover. That's bad enough on its own, of course, but the fact QPR were relegated in dead last that year shows just what a sorry state the club found itself in at the time, with Tony Fernandes' lavish and ambitious yet wholly misguided spending forcing them to pick up the pieces for years back in the Championship.

Not too many figures emerge from that era of QPR's history with all that much credit, then, although Remy's stay at Loftus Road was brief yet memorable - and current boss Marti Cifuentes could do with that sort of signing in January.

Loic Remy was electric for QPR

According to reports, Remy became QPR's club-record signing in a shock £8 million switch from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille, agreeing a four-and-a-half-year deal on reported weekly wages of £80,000. The Frenchman cost a pretty penny, and it wasn't the shrewdest deal you're going to see, but he actually gave QPR something of a return on their investment and, even at the time, it was a surprise that they were able to pull it off.

While Marseille had no qualms about offloading Remy after he had found the back of the net just once from fourteen top-flight appearances in the first-half of the 2012/13 season, his return of 22 goals and eight assists across all competitions in the previous campaign showed the calibre of player QPR had signed, and he swiftly set about showing what the hype was all about.

In just 14 games during the remainder of the 12/13 season, Remy scored six goals for the division's worst side and made a particularly emphatic start to life by notching five in his opening eight matches. Even though QPR struggled miserably that year, it was clear for all to see that Remy was a class above his teammates and the Championship, of course.

That's exactly why he ended up heading out on loan to Newcastle United the following season, where he impressed before leaving QPR in a permanent deal to join Chelsea in the summer of 2014.

Marti Cifuentes would love a signing like Loic Remy for QPR right now

QPR are in relegation bother this season despite undertaking a fairly promising summer transfer window, so January is going to be crucial in their bid to stave off the drop.

The R's can ill-afford to succumb to relegation to League One and therefore must take full advantage of the January window, where Cifuentes will surely be hoping to land a player capable of having the memorable instant impact in front of goal which Remy enjoyed more than ten years ago now.

They're rather short-staffed up top at the minute; Zan Celar needs to truly build on a brace in the win v Cardiff City, while Michael Frey remains out injured, and sourcing another striker is going to be huge for QPR come the turn of the year.

There is a real concern about where the goals are going to come from, though Redknapp never had such a worry when Remy was strutting his stuff for the Hoops and a fresh injection of firepower to this side could make all the difference.