Anzhi official says desperate Hoops paid over the odds for centre-half.
An Anzhi Makhachkala director believes that QPR ‘lost their minds’ when they agreed to sign defender Christopher Samba from the Russian club on transfer deadline day.
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The Hoops activated the former Blackburn Rovers defender’s £12.5m release clause and agreed to pay the 28-year-old a reported £100,000 per week.
Following Saturday’s 4-1 reverse at Swansea, the R’s are seven points adrift of safety and Anzhi director German Tkachenko could not believe what the struggling West Londoners were willing to pay for Samba.
“At QPR he will earn almost as much as he did at Anzhi. In my view QPR have lost their minds,” Tkachenko is quoted as saying by The Sun.
“When they agreed to pay his release fee we wept. He wept.
“Everybody says that he ran away from the club but that’s not true.
“He didn’t put any pressure on the club until we received an offer from QPR for £12.5million, the amount required by his contract.”
Tkachenko stressed that mega-rich Anzhi were sorry to lose the Congo international but says Samba wanted to return to England for family reasons.
“It was linked to the threat that he would lose contact with his children.
“That was a big blow. He was a guy who loved all of us. And besides, he is a very good defender.
“I think he is one of the top five defenders currently playing in Europe.”
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