Harry Redknapp said QPR star was like Paulo Di Canio - He really wasn't far off | OneFootball

Adel Taarabt wowed crowds at Loftus Road on a weekly basis

QPR were a club brimming with ambition in the early 2010s, looking to force themselves into the Premier League’s established order.

Certain players encapsulate that period at Loftus Road, which saw them regularly fighting at the top of the Championship or in the top-flight itself.

The star that is most symbolic of that time may be Adel Taarabt, who arrived at the club on an initial loan deal in 2009.

Adel Taarabt made the Loftus Road faithful dream

Arriving from Tottenham Hotspur, the then-20-year-old was already regarded as quite a promising talent during his loan at QPR.

His ability was quickly clear to see, keen to dance past defenders and create havoc out of nothing.

A fantastic strike against Preston North End in October 2009 optimised this, collecting the ball on his chest, dribbling past three players before curling a shot into the back of the net from 25 yards.

QPR finished that campaign in 13th, but Taarabt had proven to be a bright spark throughout, scoring seven goals and providing 11 assists.

The Hoops made the move permanent in the summer of 2010 for a reported fee of £1 million, and they were soon about to make a huge return on their investment.

Taarabt came into his own under Neil Warnock’s management, tormenting Championship defences with his flicks, tricks and sharp thinking.

Beating opponents with relative ease in a style that is missing from the modern game, the Moroccan was an asset that QPR put to good use on their way to the Championship title. His campaign is legendary and will be talked about for decades and decades beyond.

19 goals and 21 assists is a mind-blowing return and ensured that the Hoops would be playing Premier League football in the 2011/12 campaign.

Taarabt failed to hit similar heights in the top-flight, but still managed to score two goals and provide five assists in 27 Premier League games as QPR maintained their status in the division.

Although he never matched his output from the 2010/11 season, Taarabt’s pure ability never faded and was commented on throughout the rest of his career.

Harry Redknapp sold the forward to QPR when he was Tottenham Hotspur manager but was in charge of the Moroccan once more when the Hoops appointed him as their boss in 2012.

"He's got ability like not many people you've ever seen in your life," said Redknapp to the BBC about Taarabt. "He's like Di Canio, who I thought was a fantastic player, one of the all-time greats at West Ham.

"This boy is the same."

Modern football desperately misses players like Adel Taarabt

It has been 10 years since Taarabt left QPR and English football could sorely do with some more talent of the same ilk.

The game has become so structured, with tacticians aiming to control every aspect of the sport and reducing the need for flair in players.

This chaos is what attracts fans to the terraces, gets them out of their seats and makes them fall in love with the beautiful game all over again.

Players like Taarabt were often lamented as lazy and unwilling to work hard back then, and perhaps a feeling of underappreciation now surrounds those stars that supporters are crying out for these days.

Fans across the EFL will be crossing their fingers and hoping that their club will be the next to enjoy the thrills that a player such as Taarabt brings, but in the current state of the game, that seems like wishful thinking.