R’s reject Samba offer.
QPR recent rejected a “massive offer” from a Russian club for January signing Christopher Samba, according to boss Harry Redknapp.
Samba arrived at QPR from Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala for a club-record £12.5m on transfer deadline day but was subject to an even bigger bid before the Russian transfer window closed on 27 February.
“We had an offer for Samba right on the deadline and the chairman turned it down,” Redknapp is quoted as saying by the BBC.
“We had an offer of more money than what we paid for Samba.”
Samba, 28, has played four times for the Hoops since arriving on 31 January and impressed as Redknapp’s team moved to within four points of safety with a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Southampton on Saturday.
Redknapp admitted he was relieved that he left the decision to reject the bid to chairman Tony Fernandes but said he would have been philosophical if the Congo international had departed.
“The chairman asked me ‘what do you think?’ and I said ‘it is up to you, it is your club, it is your decision’.
“I left it to the chairman. He came back and said he had turned it down and said ‘get on with it’.”
“The player probably spoke to the chairman but it was really important we kept him,” he said.
“It was really good for us. Had we had lost him, I would say that is football – he is a proper player.”
Samba spent five seasons in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers before leaving the relegation side to join Anzhi in February last year.
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