QPR move for Cisse as clubs eye deadline
Maverick French striker ready to join Loftus Road revolution with transfer activity set to increase on the closing day of January sales
QPR will go to the wire in a dramatic last ditch attempt to bolster their squad with as many as four new additions, including flamboyant £4m Lazio striker Djibril Cisse, before tonight’s transfer deadline.
A frantic last day of comings and goings is expected following three weeks of relative inactivity throughout the Premier League, with just £30m spent in total so far compared to last year’s record busting £225m bonanza.
Top flight strugglers QPR yesterday kicked off their last minute spree by completing the loan signing of Mali midfielder Samba Diakite from Nancy and are hopeful of injecting experience and pace into their forward line in the shape of maverick France forward Cisse.
Manager Mark Hughes may yet resurrect his interest in Blackburn skipper Christopher Samba, who handed in a transfer request this month, while the west London club are also understood to be considering a £4m bid for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud. Hughes, who took charge earlier this month following Neil Warnock’s departure, has already been busy.
Last week he signed £2.5m Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha and landed AC Milan left-back Taye Taiwo on loan until the end of the season, and remains optimistic of concluding further deals before the 11pm deadline.
“We are hopeful of doing a little bit more before the window closes,” Hughes, whose side travel to Aston Villa tomorrow, said yesterday. “We are involved in a number of deals so we will just have to wait and see.”
Of their intended targets, former Liverpool and Sunderland striker Cisse, 30, is the name most likely to excite the Loftus Road faithful.
The 41-cap international has failed to settle at Lazio since a summer move from Panathinaikos and was last night closing in on a third spell in England.
“Djibril Cisse is a player that I admire. He knows the Premier League and I think he would be good for us,” added Hughes.
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