QPR and Marti Cifuentes would surely love to repeat £300k deal in January | OneFootball

Luke Freeman enjoyed a fantastic couple of years at Loftus Road, establishing himself as one of the club's biggest bargains in recent times.

Queens Park Rangers signed Luke Freeman from Bristol City in January 2017, and over the next two-and-a-half years at Loftus Road, the attacking midfielder would forge a legacy that would see him remembered as one of the Hoops' biggest bargains in recent times.

Rangers parted with just £300,000 to bring Freeman to West London, adding a versatile forward player to Ian Holloway's attacking ranks.

At the time of his move to QPR, Freeman had proven himself to be an excellent player at League One level from his time with Bristol City and Stevenage respectively, but he was still somewhat of an unknown quantity in the Championship having only played one full season in the second tier.

He would quickly put any doubts regarding his ability to play in the Championship to bed, and would go on to become an integral part of the R's squad over the next couple of seasons, and firmly establish himself as one of the best attacking players in the division at the time.

It's the type of transfer that current Hoops boss Marti Cifuentes will surely want to emulate in the 2025 January window, as he looks to navigate QPR out of a relegation battle.

Ian Holloway knew exactly what he was getting in Luke Freeman

Managers often make bold predictions regarding what their new signing can achieve with their club. Some of them come true, others become infamous for the wrong reasons.

However, when Holloway spoke about his new addition in Freeman back in January 2017, the QPR boss new exactly what his new recruit was going to offer in a Hoops shirt.

Speaking to the club website via The Standard after Freeman's signing was confirmed, Holloway said: "I’ve been a great admirer of Luke’s for a long time. I’ve seen a lot of him as he’s gone from strength to strength at Bristol City, so I’m really pleased he’s on board now.

“His creativity is something I think we’ll really feel the benefits of – he’s got a wand of a left foot. He can play in three or four positions too, which is really beneficial for us.

“I think he’s a leader on the pitch too because of the way he always wants the ball – and I think QPR fans will love him for that because he will wear the Hooped shirt with pride.

“For me, he ticks all the boxes in terms of what I want. He’ll give QPR absolutely everything.”

Luke Freeman would develop into a Premier League-quality player at QPR

Holloway was spot on with his prediction for Freeman's QPR career, as he shone in a variety of different roles, and provided some wonderful goals, assists and pieces of creativity during his time at Loftus Road.

During the second half of the 2016/17 season, he would flash his ability on numerous occasions, bagging two goals and four assists in his first 16 games as a QPR player.

However, it was his first full season with Rangers that would see him go from a signing that Hoops supporters could see why he was brought to the club, to a player that they would question how their team was ever going to cope without him in the side.

Freeman was the beating heart of Holloway's team during the 2017/18 season. He created an excellent attacking partnership with big centre-forward Matt Smith (who scored 11 and provided nine assists that season), whilst also developing brilliant midfield connections with the likes of Massimo Luongo, and the soon-to-be stars in Ebere Eze and Ilias Chair.

He'd follow his five goals and 12 assists in the 2017/18 campaign up with another strong season in 2018/19, scoring eight goals and providing eight assists in 48 appearances in all competitions.

Despite that, the Hoops finished 19th in the Championship that year, and prompted Freeman's form to capture the attention of a number of clubs, one of which being Sheffield United.

The Blades shelled out on a club-record fee at the time to bring Freeman to Bramall Lane, in a deal worth a reported £5 million. So, as disappointing as it was for QPR to lose such a key player, the profit they turned on him cemented his legacy as one of the club's finest pieces of business in recent times.

Cifuentes' QPR are in desperate need of creativity and goals this season, as the feel-good factor that came with the upturn in form after the Spaniard's arrival last season has quickly dissipated.

Nicolas Madsen was brought in to be that creative node that Freeman so brilliantly played at Loftus Road, but as of yet, the Dane has struggled to find a teammate to strike up a goalscoring partnership with.

Therefore, QPR will surely be in the market for attacking reinforcements in January, and a repeat of a Freeman-esque bargain could go a long way to pulling them out of the perilous position they're in.

With financial issues restricting the spending power at Loftus Road in recent windows as well as question marks over whether Cifuentes is indeed the right man for the job, transfer funds may well be limited again in the new year, meaning finding some bargains could be of paramount importance.