"You've got to think" - Big Richard Kone prediction made at QPR | OneFootball

QPR have been celebrated for signing the 22-year-old after impressive early-season performances

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Queens Park Rangers made some of the Championship’s most exciting additions during the transfer window, including Wycombe Wanderers' Richard Kone.

Julien Stephan replaced Marti Cifuentes in the home dugout at Loftus Road and didn’t waste any time in making new signings.

The Frenchman has welcomed ten new faces into his squad, including the likes of Koki Saito, Kwame Poku and Rumarn Burrell.

An exciting summer of business hasn't directly translated onto the pitch, however, with the R's sitting 18th in the Championship on four points heading into the international break.

Despite that, Football League World’s QPR fan pundit, Louis Moir, believes one signing in particular has stolen the show during the opening stages of the 2025/26 campaign.

Queens Park Rangers handed huge praise over Richard Kone swoop

Kone image credit - Benji Walker (@benjiwalkerphoto)

“I think there are a few players we signed that I really like the look of and who have impressed so far,” stated Louis. “Even though it's early days, Richard Kone, for me, has to be the one where you've got to think we may seriously have a 20-goal-a-season striker here.

“He's a proper centre forward, someone we've absolutely lacked in years. I don't want to say how we finally found our Charlie Austin replacement from quite a few years ago, but he's already got two goals, and he's only started one game, so he really excites me.

“He's only 22 as well. We've done so well to get our hands on him. I was so surprised we managed to pull it off, but the early signs are that he's going to score goals. He's so strong. He's not rapid, but he isn’t slow over a short distance. If he stays fit, he's going to cause so many issues for Championship defences this season.

“He's so hard to defend against, and he's smart as well. I think you could see against Charlton, for our first goal, he didn't get an assist, but he was so involved and what he did to create the opening for Paul Smyth to score was just brilliant. He's a menace.

“He can hold the ball up so well using his strength. He excites me a lot. If he scores goals and then the others around him chip in, we could score a lot this season. It excites me.

“We’ve got players that are capable of creating so many chances for Kone and I think that was probably a decision in his mind as well when he joined QPR. I'm sure he's going to score a lot of goals and could be the man we've been wanting for years up front.”

Richard Kone could go from strength-to-strength at Loftus Road

Kone image credit - Benji Walker (@benjiwalkerphoto)

Kone has started life at QPR swimmingly, allowing fans like Louis to dream about what the striker might be capable of doing in the future.

At just 22 years of age, Rangers’ frontman has a huge amount of room to develop, which could see his valuation skyrocket as a result, as we've so often seen with young strikers in the Championship. A player's resale value is a huge deal for clubs in the EFL, as it allows them to cash in on prospects destined for bigger things and use the profit to reinvest in their squad.

Ultimately, this can provide the foundations for a push up the table and potentially result in promotion to the Premier League, which is the goal for all 24 sides battling it out in the second-tier.

It's still early days for Kone at Loftus Road, but a good start is exactly what fans are looking for when young, exciting talents are brought in.

If the former Wycombe Wanderers forward can combine with the likes of Karamoko Dembélé and Poku, QPR could soon enjoy one of the second-tier’s most dangerous attacks.

Time will tell if those talents can work in unison, with it Stephan’s task to make sure it does to great effect.