The £900k QPR deal that Birmingham City will hope they don't regret | OneFootball

QPR are set to win the race for the sought after League One winger.

The Kwame Poku next destination saga is set to come to a close, with Queens Park Rangers looking the most likely landing spot for the Peterborough United winger.

A move away from the Weston Homes Stadium between last summer and this point was almost inevitable for Poku. Peterborough's model is built on bringing in talent, developing them and selling them on for profit.

The 2024 offseason saw Ronnie Edwards, Harrison Burrows and Ephron Mason-Clark depart the League One side. Now it's the Ghanaian's turn to move onto bigger and better things.

Peterborough's hierarchy were worried that Poku's agent may lead him away from England, which would then lead to less money for them as they wouldn't be entitled to as much compensation for the departing free agent.

Posh's chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, claimed that they would still make "millions and millions" from the 23-year-old, even though he wasn't being sold to someone. It has now been reported by Sky Sports that they have agreed a £900,000 fee, plus add-ons, for Poku with QPR.

Birmingham may come to regret missing out on Kwame Poku

Swansea City had also agreed terms with the third tier outfit, as per Mark McAdam, and Rangers were, at one point, expected to in the race for the Peterborough star before the west London side hijacked the deal.

Birmingham City were also long-term admirers of him. Football League World exclusively reported that the League One champions were preparing a £30,000 per week offer for him.

They, however, grew frustrated with how long things were taking and began to look in other directions. They have missed out on a potential gem though, especially for a six-figure fee, and they may come to regret not winning this race.

Even in a season that was disrupted by an injury in late 2024, which didn't allow Peterborough to make any real money from Poku in the January transfer window, the Ghanaian still managed to rack up 20 combined goals and assists. He had done similar in the campaign prior, too, netting 11 times and helping others to do so on seven occasions.

Kwame Poku is set up for success at Loftus Road

QPR will be able to add the winger, who has reportedly undergone a medical with the Hoops, to an increasingly dynamic attack that will also include a healthy former wonderkid in Karamoko Dembele.

Birmingham, following their promotion from the Championship, will face Julien Stephan's side twice next season. Should everything go according to plan with the Peterborough winger's move to Loftus Road, Chris Davies and his team will get to see firsthand exactly what they have missed out on.

There is no guarantee that Poku will be able to make the step up from League One to the Championship. There will be an obvious jump in defensive quality that he comes up against, so he will struggle to produce the same gaudy numbers as he did in the third tier. If there has been a player that has deserved such a move over the past few seasons, it is Poku.

He is an incredibly direct winger, but an unselfish one too. He's not an out-and-out ball-hogging goalscorer that is going to slow down the momentum of others. He gets his teammates involved in attacks and can help them finish moves off as well as he can.

One big boost for him about joining QPR over Birmingham is that he will be one of the stars of the show, like he was at Peterborough. City's squad is so compacted with talent that Poku, if he didn't hit the ground running, wouldn't have been certain of having a starting spot most weeks.

He should have the freedom to play as he has done in the blue and white stripes of QPR, and that will be key to getting the best out of him.