Mark Hughes takes over QPR at a strange time of year. With a new manager and a team in free-fall many will be hoping, indeed expecting, Hughes to bring in a host of new faces.
However managers are famously reticent to spend in the January window.
On top of this Hughes only has a short amount of time to get to know his squad; all of this worryingly seems be point towards inflated fees and panic buys.
Which leads to the question: how much is Christopher Samba worth?
Neil Warnock already had a bid of £5 million turned down shortly before his departure, and The Express states that Hughes, who initially brought the defender to England, is keen to up the bid to £8 million.
However, Blackburn are not keen to sell, and other teams (such as Spurs and PSG) are interested. A bids at least in excess of £12million will be necessary to convince Blackburn to part with their Captain.
Chairman Tony Fernandes has said he will, “back Hughes if he can entice some big names,” which is thought to translate to a budget of around £30 million. Hughes will have to decide whether Samba, 27, is worth around a third of his budget. Especially with others like Chelsea’s Alex, or Nedum Onuoha available for less.
Of course even if QPR’s bid is successful, there is no guarantee Samba will join, as he is hoping for European Football.
