"Ridiculous" - QPR transfer miss involving now Real Madrid star Ferland Mendy will leave regret | OneFootball

We spoke to our resident QPR expert to get his insights on a transfer link he wished his club had pursued.

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...

Queens Park Rangers have experienced their share of ups and downs throughout their history, but there's no denying the brilliance of some of the players who have graced the pitch at Loftus Road.

From modern-day heroes like Les Ferdinand and Charlie Austin to the legendary figures of the 1970s, such as Dave Clement and Stan Bowles, QPR has been home to some unforgettable talents.

Unfortunately, though, sometimes you miss out on that talent, and we spoke to our resident Hoops pundit, to get his take on a transfer link that he wished had come to fruition.

Speaking to our QPR fan pundit Louis Moir, there was one name on his mind linked to a potential transfer back in 2016: "You could probably make a list of players we were linked with but didn't end up signing, who turned out to be really good.

"One that stands out in more recent years, which sounded ridiculous at the time, was when we had Hasselbaink as our manager and Les Ferdinand in charge of recruitment. We were looking to sign a left-back, and that full-back went by the name of Ferland Mendy, who ended up playing for Real Madrid and making over 100 appearances for them.

"Real Madrid bought him for millions, and we were looking to sign him for less than £200,000 when he was at Le Havre. We didn't sign him because we thought better players were coming through, like Cole Kpekwa.

"But I think that just sums up the time when Les Ferdinand was in charge, choosing that option over signing someone who eventually went to Real Madrid for millions.

"We haven't been blessed with left-backs - very few in recent years - and this feels like one that really got away. It could have ended completely differently, but it didn't, and the recruitment at the time was poor and hasn't improved much since."

Ferland Mendy could have generated millions for QPR

In hindsight, this was a real missed opportunity for QPR, who could have secured huge funding with the sale of a talent like Mendy.

In 2020, more details were found out about this potential transfer when The Athletic spoke to former QPR scout, Ian Butterworth.

"QPR didn’t have a lot of money but we fancied him and he was only going to be about £150,000 in compensation.”

“Steve set meetings up but QPR didn’t do it because they felt they had a player who was better than him coming through, even though we didn’t think so. That player isn’t there now," admits Butterworth.

Having moved to Lyon a year after his touted move to QPR, Mendy quickly became a fan favourite at Les Gones, making 79 appearances in his two seasons with the club.

These performances caught the eye and in 2019, the Galacticos came calling, offering the French side £47.1 million for his services.

Since then, he has won two Champions Leagues as well as three La Liga titles, to make him one of the most decorated left-backs in the game's history.