QPR takeover encouraged but warning sent - "You hear all these rumors" | OneFootball

FLW's Hoops fan pundit speaks on potentially being bought out by a wealthy Saudi businessman

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...

After months of speculation, Saudi boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh finally put to bed the rumours of him launching a bid to buy Bristol City.

A simple, 11-word tweet was all it took to confirm that the billionaire wasn't interested in purchasing the Robins from Steve Lansdown, but now questions are being asked whether he'll be interested in buying a different Championship side.

Queens Park Rangers have been stagnant over the past decade and are currently in the midst of their 11th consecutive Championship campaign. In the previous ten years, they have finished no higher than ninth, which they did so in the 2020/21 season.

Their biggest shareholder for the past couple of years has been Malaysian businessman Ruben Gnanalingam, who owns nearly 60% of the club, after former chairman Tony Fernandes sold his shares in 2023.

Gnanalingam has been involved with the club since 2011. Financial difficulties then stopped the Hoops from becoming Premier League regulars, and now they've been avoiding the drop to League One for the majority of the past ten years.

FLW's QPR fan pundit, Louis Moir, feels that new faces are needed at the board level at Loftus Road, but stressed that they need to be careful of falling into any more financial troubles, if it were someone like Turki Alalshikh who took over.

When asked about how he'd feel if new owners were to come and take over QPR, Moir responded positively, saying: "The idea of new ownership coming into the club is something I've been hoping for the past few years now.

"I just feel that the club has been stagnant and just doing their best to survive relegation over the past few years.

"Ultimately, we are now looking up and going in a different direction, but regardless of that, I just think we've needed new ownership for a few years."

Moir credits the current ownership group for sticking with the club for as long as they have, but feels that the state they were in financially was ultimately their own doing.

Their promotion to the Premier League in 2011 saw their wage expenditure nearly double in an entire year, and their wages of £75 million en route to their 2014 promotion made up 195% of their overall turnover.

Their financial issues were finally put to bed in 2018, after they agreed on a settlement of almost £42 million with the EFL.

"I think the people who have been there have been there for too long," Moir continued.

"They got us into some problems financially and, ultimately, that's how [our 10-year Championship run] has happened, by not making smart financial decisions."

QPR fan pundit urges caution if Turki Alalshikh buys the club

Given Saudi billionaire Turki Alalshikh's reported interest in a club down south, perhaps QPR could be a more attractive club than Bristol City for the sports promoter.

However, Moir doesn't want his club to suffer financially in a similar way to how they did during the 2010s, and has urged caution if someone as rich as Alalshikh took over in the near future.

"You hear all these rumours about Saudi or Qatari rich, wealthy people being linked with moves to the Championship or other English clubs, and if an opportunity ever came about with someone who had a tonne of money to take over," Moir continued.

"Yeah, there will be fresh faces and fresh ideas, but you can have all the money in the world, but there are rules in place to stop you from splashing the cash without consequence.

"In terms of the current ownership now, they've recognised their mistakes and are looking to rectify them, hence the new training ground and the way the club's going, and I do think that we eventually need new ownership and fresh faces at the top of the club, but not necessarily someone like a rich Saudi owner."

Evidently, Moir's desires are more for new ideas at the board level, rather than someone who is going to come in and throw money at a wall and hope success comes from it. Ultimately, that can lead to deeper trouble down the line.

"The current owners have been there for too long. We may have had a couple of good years now, but overall it's been poor, and it's not what we should be doing as a club.