QPR were stung with rare Peterborough United transfer flop | OneFootball

The striker had a torrid time at Loftus Road, despite signing for £3m in January 2016.

Peterborough United's prowess of bringing through excellent strikers is well-known, with some of their star forwards making names for themselves in both the EFL and the Premier League.

The likes of Britt Assombalonga, Craig Mackail-Smith, Dwight Gayle, Jack Marriott and Ivan Toney all played at London Road early on in their careers, before leaving for big fees after shining for Posh.

It has been a particular strength of the Cambridgeshire outfit over the last 15 years, however, they have not been impenetrable, and this reputation has led to some clubs purchasing strikers in the hope that they would have the same impact as others have enjoyed.

Queens Park Rangers were one of the very few teams to suffer when signing an attacker from Peterborough in January 2016, as they paid £3m for a then 23-year-old Conor Washington who had scored 10 goals in 25 appearances in League One at the start of that season.

Conor Washington failed to get firing early on at QPR after Peterborough success

There was a lot of excitement surrounding the current Derby County striker when he first made the switch to Loftus Road, after Rangers had struggled to mount a credible play-off challenge following relegation from the Premier League.

However, Washington struggled with the step-up, and found scoring goals incredibly difficult despite having opportunities to find the back of the net.

He started seven times for the Hoops during the latter half of the 2015/16 campaign, appearing in 15 Championship games altogether, but he did not register a single goal.

Supporters were hoping that a full pre-season would help him get back to the same performance levels that he had shown with Peterborough, but his team started the season slowly, and he found it difficult to get minutes on the pitch.

Eventually, the Northern Ireland international did find the back of the net, scoring the opener against West London rivals Fulham in a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage in October 2016.

QPR finished 18th.

Time was already starting to run out for the striker, and changes in management were not helping him, but he started his second full season with a bang.

Conor Washington never truly lived up to his promise and the transfer fee at QPR

Washington scored a brace on the opening day of the 2017/18 season against Reading in a 2-0 win at Loftus Road. It was an excellent performance from the 25-year-old, who knew he had to make a mark on the starting 11 sooner rather than later.

But, despite this bright start, he failed to maintain this level and the goals dried up quickly once again.

He fired in just five more times, including against eventual title winners Wolverhampton Wanderers, but it was clear that his time at Loftus Road was coming to an end.

The signing of Washington was meant to bring QPR back towards the play-offs, but he failed to live up to his promise, and never found the consistency in front of goal that both he and the rest of his team needed.

His contract was terminated by mutual consent in August 2018, and he joined Sheffield United, but the Hoops perhaps still regret making a move for the forward despite Peterborough's rich history of bringing through talented strikers.