QPR laughed loudest after £5.5m West Brom transfer decision | OneFootball

The R's may have reluctantly sold Matt Phillips in 2016, but they ended up with the last laugh...

When clubs drop out of the Premier League, difficult decisions inevitably follow. That has been no different for either West Bromwich Albion or Queens Park Rangers in recent years.

West Brom have been without Premier League football since 2020 and QPR since 2015, but both have felt the pressures that follow in the Championship. Wage bills need trimming, Financial Fair Play begins to squeeze, and concerns begin looming about retaining key players.

In the end, valuable assets are often sacrificed in the name of stability. For QPR in 2016, that reality was unavoidable after their relegation back to the Championship a year prior, with the club needing to raise funds and reshape an expensive squad that had failed to preserve their top-flight status.

At the time, one outgoing deal looked understandable for all parties involved. A reliable attacking player with proven Championship pedigree and Premier League experience earned himself a move to a more stable side willing to spend a sizeable £5.5 million fee.

From the outside, it appeared to be solid business for the buying club and a necessary sale for QPR. Yet, almost a decade later, there is a fair argument that side may ultimately have emerged as the bigger winners from the transfer.

Matt Phillips had a solid but unremarkable career with West Brom

The player sold by QPR to West Brom for £5.5 million was Matt Phillips. He swapped Loftus Road for The Hawthorns during the summer of 2016. Phillips arrived with a reputation as an effective wide player capable of producing moments of quality, particularly at Championship level.

He had enjoyed respectable spells with both QPR and Blackpool previously, including spending some time in the Premier League as well, while also earning international recognition with Scotland national football team. There is no suggestion that Phillips was a failure at West Brom.

In fact, that is is far from true. As a servant, he arguably paid back his fee in eight years at the club. Across several of those seasons, he proved himself a dependable and hard-working squad member who contributed to goals and assists across different attacking positions.

In those eight seasons, with three in the Premier League and five in the Championship, he scored 31 and assisted 31 in 255 games. He was particularly effective during the Baggies’ promotion-winning Championship campaign under Slaven Bilic in 2019/20, where his experience and delivery from wide areas was invaluable.

However, for a player costing £5.5 million at the age of 25, there was perhaps an expectation he would become more influential than he ultimately was. Phillips never truly evolved into the sort of game-changing winger capable of consistently dragging teams through difficult moments or elevating West Brom towards another level.

He was entering his prime but 13 goal involvements in 41 appearances was his best season. Should it not have been much more than that? Sure, injuries also disrupted periods of momentum throughout his time in the Midlands, limiting his ability to fully establish himself as one of the division’s standout attacking players.

However, his "peak" and his injuries perhaps explain exactly why QPR arguably laughed loudest in hindsight.

QPR benefitted from the capital gained through selling Matt Phillips

Given their financial situation at the time, receiving that level of fee for Phillips represented important and much-needed business for a club needing immediate income and stability.

While supporters undoubtedly appreciated his efforts and professionalism during his spell in West London, few would argue his departure fundamentally altered the trajectory of the club in a negative sense. Phillips scored 14 and assisted 15 in 94 appearances during his stint with QPR.

In the end, overall, he enjoyed a solid career. He carved out lengthy spells in both the Championship and Premier League, represented his country internationally, and remained a respected figure wherever he played. And yet, there is also a feeling that he rarely moved the needle significantly at any one club.

He was dependable rather than the key piece of a team's attack, and useful rather than irreplaceable. For West Brom, the deal was serviceable. For QPR, though, the timing and fee attached to the transfer may have made it a crucial piece of business during a difficult financial period.