QPR wasted £100k-a-week on "disaster signing" - it was a "horrendous decision" to spend so much | OneFootball

Christopher Samba joined QPR in January 2013 from Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala and would prove to be an expensive disaster

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 signed Christopher Samba in January 2013 from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala for a substantial fee and even more substantial wages, in what is one of, if not the most expensive mistakes the West London outfit has ever made.

Having narrowly survived relegation by one point in the 2011/12 season, QPR sought to overhaul their squad the following summer under former manager Mark Hughes.

The R's signed the likes of Esteban Granero, Junior Hoillett, Jose Bosingwa, Julio Cesar, and Ji-sung Park in the summer of 2012, all of whom were handed significant wages to join the club in the English capital.

However, with zero league wins in their first 12 matches, Hughes was dismissed and replaced by veteran manager Harry Redknapp, and upon the January window, QPR doubled down on their spending, bringing in the likes of Jermaine Jenas, Loic Remy and Samba.

Samba joined for a reported £12.5 million on a reported £100k-per-week four-and-a-half year deal, with manager Redknapp saying: "This is an unbelievable signing. Chris is just what we need. He's a monster."

Having already spent five-and-a-half years with Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League before his move from Russia, Samba was expected to elevate QPR's defence to the next level, but what followed was hugely underwhelming.

QPR's signing of Christopher Samba caused 'severe financial problems' down the line for the club

Football League World's QPR fan pundit, Louis Moir, has shared his opinion on whether the signing of Samba has been the club's most expensive-ever mistake.

Louis said, "It's probably impossible to think of a time in recent years, especially where the club have made a more financial mistake than the money that was paid to Chris Samba on a weekly basis.

"I think [he was on] in excess of approximately £100k-per-week for a player who at the time signed, I thought 'this is an unbelievable signing', but it was a disaster signing which was one of many during that era of QPR, the money spent not just on him, but you could make a whole list of the rest of those players during that time.

"It was just that the wages were out of control. It's mad to think of the money he was getting on a weekly basis, which, for what he gave on the pitch, was a disgrace, and obviously, he's come out and spoken about his time at QPR.

"He wasn't fit enough, and you just ask another question of the club at the time, what on earth were we doing spending as much money as we did on him as well in terms of the transfer fee?

"It's just silly, it's beyond silly, brain-dead decisions, really, that we made during that time.

"If we could recoup some of those wages that went to Chris Samba, I think we'd do it more than once.

"It's just disappointing really, because it cost us in the years after, where it had that knock-on effect, and it ended up with the club in severe financial problems.

"[It was] a horrendous decision to give him the amount of money that he received, and it wasn't just that, but the transfer fees as well that we spent on players at that time were an absolute disgrace."

Christopher Samba recouped a decent fee for Christopher Samba, but his signing was still an overpriced disaster

QPR ultimately finished rock bottom of the Premier League in 2013, with Samba having made just ten appearances for the R's during his brief stay at the club.

He missed the final four games of the season, having dropped out of the squad entirely, with his last match for the R's being a 2-0 home defeat to Stoke City, in which he partnered Clint Hill in the heart of defence.

Samba tasted victory just twice as a QPR player, with wins against Southampton and Sunderland being as good as it got for the Congolese international, who was largely at fault for the R's 3-2 defeat away to Fulham, in which he gave away a penalty in the first half.

Fortunately for them, Anzhi were willing to take Samba back to Russia that summer and offered QPR £12 million for the defender, which, of course, they immediately said yes to.

Although they managed to recoup most of the fee they had initially paid for Samba six months prior, the damage to relegation had already been inflicted, and twinned with his £100k-per-week wages, Samba comfortably goes down as one of, if not the most expensive mistakes QPR have ever made.

To make matters worse, during his stay with the club, QPR fans took to social media to criticise his performances in relation to his wages, to which he responded himself by saying: "Fed up with the money tweets, get over it.

"Tell me what is a £100k performance? See everyone talking about mistakes, like footballers cannot have an off day on the pitch. We are human like all of you. Grow up some of you, please."

It would be fair to suggest that QPR fans and Samba don't share much of a positive relationship today, and his brief stint in West London, like many others at the club that season, was an expensive waste.