QPR won big with £50k deal that returned a 90-goal striker: View | OneFootball

The signing of Les Ferdinand will go down as one of QPR's best ever.

Les Ferdinand is nothing less than a Queens Park Rangers legend.

The Ferdinand family are well known at QPR, with brothers Rio and Anton both featuring for the club in the 2010s, while their second cousin, Les, was recognised as one of the club's greatest-ever strikers.

Les Ferdinand spent eight years on the books in W12 and, in the top flight of English football alone, managed to score 80 goals in 166 appearances during that time.

The striker was in the early days of his professional playing career but became an established top flight goalscorer at Loftus Road which led to him flourishing elsewhere later down the line.

Ferdinand was part of the QPR squad that featured in the inaugural campaign of the Premier League back in the early 90s and was their star striker at the time. In each of the club's first three seasons in the newly-established Premier League, he was their top scorer in all competitions, with 24, 18 and 26 goals in consecutive campaigns.

During his time at QPR, he earned his first call-up for England, for whom he would go on to score five goals.

His domestic career really took off at Loftus Road, as he made a name for himself there before going on and playing for some of the biggest clubs in England.

QPR struck a bargain deal for Ferdinand

QPR would have felt incredibly lucky to have had Les Ferdinand as their striker, considering how little he cost them. Before playing for the Hoops, Ferdinand was scoring goals in non-league as a youngster. He reached the FA Vase final with Southall before scoring 20 goals for Hayes, all by the age of 20.

In 1987, QPR discovered him while he was scoring goals for Hayes, and decided to purchase the young striker for just £50,000. This deal would go on to be a real bargain considering the amount of goals he scored in the top flight.

It did take a little while for Ferdinand to become a regular starter at QPR, but when he did, he took his chance with both hands and ran with it.

The Hoops simply struck gold the day they signed Ferdinand. He would go on to score 90 times in 183 appearances for the R's before he earned them a huge profit in a £6m sale to Newcastle United.

Les Ferdinand post-QPR

Ferdinand's career in English football has been well-documented, as he would continue to score Premier League goals long after departing QPR.

His time with Newcastle will be remembered fondly, and he is often known as 'Sir Les' by their faithful fanbase. The striker only made 84 appearances in all competitions for the Magpies but managed to score a whopping 50 goals and assist a further 15.

He then went on to play for Tottenham, where he won his only piece of major silverware in the English game. Ferdinand scored 39 goals across six years in North London and helped the club lift the League Cup in 1999.

Goals began to dry up, and towards the end of his career, he played for a number of English clubs before retiring in 2006.

Later down the line, Ferdinand would return to QPR, where he first made a name for himself, and became head of football operations. He was then appointed as director of football; a role he occupied for eight years before stepping down in 2023.

Ferdinand is a Queens Park Rangers legend, and the club will look back on that £50k deal with Hayes with immense pride.