QPR have an expensive recent history, and the club has spent some big money on some poor players.
QPR are a much shrewder club now. They won’t spend more than necessary on lavish players like they once did, but there was a time not so long ago when the West Londoners were spending freely in the Premier League.
Here, we look at the club’s most expensive signings from between 2010 to 2020, and discuss what they’re up to today…
5. Esteban Granero
Granero was signed from Real Madrid in the summer of 2012 for a fee of £7.2million according to Transfermarkt.
The former Spanish U21 player arrived as a highly-rated young midfielder. He went on to feature 24 times in the Premier League for the R’s, who eventually finished rock-bottom and were relegated after a two-year stay in the top flight.
Granero hastily returned to Spain with Real Sociedad, spending three years there before a further three years with Espanyol, eventually ending his career with Marbella in 2021.
4. Leroy Fer
The 11-cap Dutchman was an exciting signing for QPR at the time. He arrived in the summer of 2014 for a fee of £9million, but he couldn’t prevent QPR from relegation from the top flight.
He stayed with the club for the first half of the following Championship season before joining Swansea City on loan. Fer made that move permanent the following summer before suffering another relegation from the Premier League in 2018, and then joining Feyenoord in 2019.
Fer, now age 32, plays for Alanyaspor in the Turkish top flight.
3. Loic Remy
Remy might be the only player on this list who fulfilled some kind of potential at QPR. The Frenchman signed in January 2013 for a fee of £9.45million, on a reported £70,000-a-week wage.
He scored six goals in his 16 Premier League outings for the R’s who were relegated that season. Remy joined Newcastle United on loan the following season before eventually sealing a move to Chelsea.
The hyper around Remy quickly faded and today, he finds himself playing in Turkey for Adana Demirspor.
2. Steven Caulker
QPR signed Steven Caulker for £9.68million back in 2014. He broke through the ranks at Spurs to establish himself as an up and coming centre-back in the English game, eventually moving on to Cardiff City and then QPR.
But his move to QPR wouldn’t pan out as hoped, and it’d prove to be another stepping stone on what was an arduous few years for the one-cap Englishman.
He made his battles with mental health well known throughout what was a tough patch for the now 30-year-old, with spells at Southampton, Liverpool and Dundee preceding his eventual move to Turkey.
In Turkey, Caulker has found his footing, and he’s also found his way into the Sierra Leone national side. A disappointing signing for QPR, but it’s great to see Caulker rediscovering his love for the game.
1. Chris Samba
Samba was a cult figure during his time at Blackburn Rovers. He featured almost 200 times in all competitions for the club during their Premier League years, leaving for Russia in 2011.
But the towering centre-back found his way back to England in the summer of 2012, signing for QPR for a fee of £13.5million from Anzhi.
He stayed for less than a season, racking up 10 Premier League outings for the club before returning to Anzhi. Samba then played for Dynamo Moscow, Panathinaikos and Aston Villa briefly before retiring in 2018.
At the end of last year, Samba returned to Ewood Park in a coaching capacity.