“Struggled quite a lot” - Ex-QPR winger labelled as transfer disappointment after £1.5m deal | OneFootball

QPR's decision to sign Metz attacker Yeni Ngbakoto did not work out.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

QPR are currently in their tenth successive season in the Championship, with Marti Cifuentes the man tasked with building a team that can eventually return to the Premier League.

In the past decade, it’s fair to say QPR haven’t really come close to returning to the top-flight, with more concern about avoiding the drop to League One.

A change in approach meant promotion was going to be tough, as the R’s are no longer big spenders like they once were.

However, that’s not to say that they haven’t splashed the cash in that period, but unfortunately, many deals just didn’t work out.

Yeni Ngbakoto failed to live up to QPR expectations upon arrival in 2016

And, one signing who failed to justify the initial hype was Yeni Ngbakoto, a forward player who joined from Metz for around £1.5m in the summer of 2016.

There was a lot of excitement when the Londoners saw off competition from Wolves to land the attacker, and it was easy to see why.

Ngbakoto had shone in France, scoring 14 and 12 goals in two promotion-winning seasons for Metz, whilst he also coped well in Ligue 1.

Yet, he just couldn’t replicate that in English football, and Hoops fan pundit Louis Moir explained to FLW why he was one of the majorly disappointing QPR deals in their recent history.

“There are a lot of players you could name as signings that came through the door with hype that didn’t really do much. In more recent times, Yeni Ngbakoto, who was a winger that came from France.

“He looked good when you did your research on him, he was a tricky, electric winger that was capable of producing goals and assists.

“At the time, he was a bit of a different signing, because we weren’t really branching out to Europe, so it was something different and I was really, really excited when we got him.

“But he played I think over 30-odd games, and he scored not even a handful of goals. There was one goal he scored away at Birmingham, an unbelievable free-kick, and that was probably the best thing he did in a QPR shirt.

“He disappointed a lot, you thought he was this tricky winger, but he never really took his man on, he never really beat his man. I just think he was one of these that just did not adapt to English football, especially the Championship, and he actually struggled quite a lot.

“I remember one game I went to, I think it was Northampton at home in the League Cup, and he even struggled in that sort of game. He was just really poor, and it didn’t work out.

“He was one who definitely came with hype and just did not put any top performances in, and just didn’t produce in a QPR shirt whatsoever.”

Yeni Ngbakoto’s career after QPR has been somewhat of a mixed bag

Unfortunately for the player, the QPR move is one that he will no doubt look back on with regret as well, as he simply couldn’t get his career going again after his time at Loftus Road.

A return to France with Guingamp was understandable, and they saw flashes of Ngbakoto’s undoubted talent, but fitness issues meant he didn’t always get the run of games he wanted.

After four years with the club, Ngbakoto moved to Panathinaikos, and he then had spells with Nancy and Western Sydney Wanderers before joining current side Velje in September 2023.

They are bottom of the Danish league having picked up just one point from 11 games, with Ngbakoto featuring regularly.