Samba joins QPR in record deal

Christopher Samba has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with QPR after completing a 12.5-million-pound switch from Anzhi Makhachkala.

QPR activated the centre-back’s release clause on Wednesday and have now put the finishing touches to a deal to bring the Congo-born stopper back to the Premier League.

Harry Redknapp has been desperate to reinforce his defence following the departures of Anton Ferdinand and Ryan Nelsen this month and had previously been linked with a move for Fulham’s Brede Hangeland.

“I’ve been linked with the club for a long time. With Harry here though, he is really passionate and he wants to do something with the club,” Samba told the club’s official website.

“Unfortunately things haven’t gone the way the club would have wanted so far this season but there’s still a lot of time and I’m sure we can get out of it.

“I know what is going on with the project here. There is a very important fan base here – I’ve played at Loftus Road before and it’s fantastic.

“The club is ambitious and I’m sure it’s a good challenge for me.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe we could get out of trouble.”

Redknapp also described Samba, who will wear the number five shirt at Loftus Road, as a ‘monster’.

“This is an unbelievable signing,” he said. “Tony Fernandes deserves a lot of credit for this one – he has worked so hard on bringing him in.

“I was speaking with him a month ago and he asked me who I would want to sign if Ryan Nelsen left, he asked me to give him a couple of names.

“I said to him, ‘Well, these aren’t possible to get but if you’re asking me who I’d have, I’ll give you a couple of players’. One of them was Chris Samba.

“The next thing I know he’s telling me that he’s working on bringing him in! It’s amazing.

“Chris is just what we need. He’s a monster. Great in the air, quick, a leader, strong, fantastic in both boxes, hard as nails. He’s a proper centre-half.”