How much Zan Celar was earning at QPR under Marti Cifuentes as controversy emerges | OneFootball

The Slovene striker was apparently the 13th-highest earner at the club in 24/25

It’s fair to say that Queens Park Rangers got the signing of Slovenian striker Zan Celar horribly wrong 20 months ago.

Having scored just two goals for the R's since his initial £1.7m move from Swiss side FC Lugano - which both came in the same Championship game against eventually-relegated Cardiff City - the West London club must have been over the moon when the chance came to potentially move the forward on for good last summer.

German second-tier outfit Fortuna Dusseldorf swooped in with a loan-to-buy offer for around €2.5m, but after apparently wanting to send him back to England in January, things have gone from bad to worse for him at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.

With it looking likely QPR won't be able to sell him for the aforementioned amount, FLW takes a look at how much the 26-year-old used to earn in the Championship under his former boss Marti Cifuentes, as he could be back on that amount again come the summer.

How much Zan Celar was earning at Queens Park Rangers amid "verbal outburst" controversy

Reports from Germany, via Sport Witness, detail how a recent training game at Fortuna turned sour, with Celar angering his fellow teammates by playing "weak passes" and shooting "selfishly."

It was in that context that Fortuna vice-captain Tim Oberdorf is reported to have pulled Celar up on his actions, prompting what is described as a "verbal outburst" from the striker. The club’s head coach, Markus Anfang, then came out and claimed how Celar "hasn’t used the playing time he’s been given in a way that puts him in the spotlight."

Said playing time has only amounted to 332 league minutes, and zero goals. From a QPR point of view, this is surely the kind of noise they did not want around a player they invested a seven-figure fee in just under two years ago.

Using Capology estimates, Celar was picking up a weekly wage of £8k-per-week at Loftus Road, which works out at an estimated £416k-per-year.

With Steve Cook, for example, cited as QPR’s highest earner that season on an estimated £30k-per-week, Celar’s estimated £8k sits well below the very top bracket. But, he was comfortably above many squad players, which suggests that he was signed to be a prominent member of the first-team squad for years to come.

Overall, the Slovene was the 13th-highest earner from that season at the club, as per the aforementioned Capology estimates.

What comes next for Queens Park Rangers and Zan Celar after Fortuna Dusseldorf problem

Stepping back, the estimated wage numbers paint an awkward picture. QPR are still tied to that estimated £8k-per-week commitment and a transfer outlay that could rise to £2.4m if add-ons are met.

All for a striker who, within his first season under Martí Cifuentes, had started just ten Championship games, and is now all but finished in Germany.

Neither the fee nor the wage are outrageous for a Championship forward, but they become far harder to defend when headlines coming out of Germany are now looking like this.

Celar joined the R's having scored 21 goals across his most recent Swiss campaign and featured for Slovenia at Euro 2024, including an appearance off the bench in the 0-0 draw with England in Group C.

Yet, ultimately, it's hard to see what the future now has in store for the once-promising striker after his training session tantrum in Düsseldorf.