QPR’s excellent summer of transfer business continued on Wednesday with the £8m capture of Dutch international midfielder Leroy Fer from Norwich City.

Facts

Leroy Fer is a 24-year-old Dutch international who scored his country’s first goal at the World Cup in Brazil during the summer, a thumping header in the opening group game against Chile just two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

That banished the ghosts of a poor first season in England for Fer, who joined Norwich City last summer from Twente only to suffer relegation at the first time of asking. Fer made 33 appearances and scored four goals in a dreadful Norwich team last season, but sat out matches towards the end of the season following and injury and change in manager from Chris Hughton to Neil Adams. He opened his account for the Canaries in a 6-3 early season League Cup win against Bury and added two goals in back to back league games in November against West Ham and Newcastle. His last goal for the club was in a 2-0 win at West Brom in December.

Fer originally progressed through the world-renowned youth system at Dutch club Feyenoord having joined the club aged nine. He captained the Dutch national side at Under 17 level and made his first team debut at Feyenoord at the same age, impressing as a box-to-box midfielder. After 103 league starts, 14 goals and two domestic trophies at his first club, FC Twente paid £5.5m to snatch him away in 2011.

He scored eight goals in 2011/12 for Twente and five goals in 30 starts during 2012/13 before moving to the English Premier League with Norwich for £5m.

He has signed a three year deal at Loftus Road following an £8m move from Norfolk, and has taken on the responsibility of QPR’s fabled number 10 shirt into the bargain.

Reaction

“Leroy’s arrival is a massive boost for us. He’s another excellent signing and I’m delighted we’ve been able to get him to QPR. He played for Holland in the World Cup this summer and has all the attributes you'd be looking for from a central midfielder. He's just an outstanding midfield player - great physique, fine ability, he gets box-to-box. I’m really looking forward to integrating him into the squad.” — Harry Redknapp

“I realise I am repeating what I wrote about him when he was first linked, but this for me is a great signing. He's young, he's proven at this level, he is brilliant at the job we are going to ask him to do within our system, be it as a deeper lying box to box player or a more direct 'number 10' just behind the strikers. He's a threat in the air, strong in the tackle and can pick a pass. He will get the odd goal too.”- Simmo

“The only thing that concerns me is that Norwich went down despite having quality players like Redmond, Fer, Snograss, Hooper. If they were that good why did they go down? I think Fer is exactly the type of player we need in midfield, but it just concerns me that many of Norwich signings did not stand up when it got tough, how do we know Fer won’t do the same this year? The same goes for Hooper.” - 08oelsen

”He was a first choice starter until he got injured and at one point was a candidate for POTS had he kept up his form for the whole season. As it happened he got injured and never quite got it back then Adams didn't really play him in the last few games for reasons that are probably known only to him.” - Jim Smith, Norwich fan

Opinion

So the pressure is off in that regard, and that’s just as well because whoever Fer replaces in the QPR squad having arrived from Norwich for a very decent — but still not insignificant amount of money for a club like Rangers — fee of £7m, is going to mean he’ll be under pressure to perform.

Fer can play a couple of roles in QPR’s much talked about new wing back formation. He can be a classic number 10, in behind a main striker at the tip of the midfield where Jordon Mutch was detailed against Hull on Saturday. One wouldn’t imagine Mutch was bought not to play, and if Fer replaces him there then questions will be asked and comparisons will be made.

Or he can play deeper, at the base of the midfield, in front of the defence where he mad ehis name at Feyenoord whose fans nicknamed him The Bouncer for his uncompromising approach to protecting the defenders and goal behind him. That puts him in conflict with Joey Barton and, most probably Ale Faurlin. I strongly suspect it’s the latter who he will replace in the QPR line up initially.

A fortnight ago that would have seemed entirely sensible. Ale Faurlin has barely played football for two years and has ruptured his anterior cruciate knee ligament on both sides in that time. When he came back from the first injury he looked heavy legged, sluggish, and a mile away from the vibrant, effective Premier League midfield player he was before that awkward landing in an FA Cup tie at MK Dons wrecked his knee joint.

Coming back from one of those injuries is bad enough, coming back from two can be a task too great for some — Bolton’s wonderful American international midfielder Stuart Holden will surely retire soon after countless set backs on his own quest. The idea that Faurlin would feature at all for QPR in the Premier League this season was farely fanciful, given that manager Harry Redknapp didn’t seem to fancy him much when he had one working knee, so the suggestion he could be a mainstay of the team immediately from the start this season was the stuff of fairy tale. And yet there Faurlin was, against PAOK and Hull, looking lean, fit, energetic, good on the ball and — crucially, as this was his mental block when he came back from the first injury — good in the air.

So now the idea of replacing Faurlin with Fer doesn’t seem quite as obvious and palatable as it did. You could argue that against PAOK, and for the first hour against Hull, Faurlin was QPR’s best player. Could it be that the people’s favourite Joey Barton, who seems crucial to the team and yet continues to concede possession and take amateur-standard set pieces, is the man to make way? I highly doubt it.

This debate is worth having only because it’s getting wonderfully, beautifully boring to continue typing that QPR have signed another talented player, at the right age, with an exemplary fitness record, with plenty to prove, for an acceptable price. Fer follows Steven Caulker, Mutch and Mauricio Isla through the entrance door at Loftus Road this summer — quite a transfer window by this club’s appalling recent standards. Whoever he replaces, competition for places is healthy and positive and QPR have plenty of that in the midfield area — no doubt injuries and suspensions will make chat about where Fer is going to fit academic fairly quickly.

Signing players from relegated clubs can also be a bit of a risk — Norwich were, after all, justifiably relegated last season for a reason, so go around signing the players that took them there and you’ll find yourself in the same boat so the logic goes. In the late 1990s and early 2000s I remember Nigel Quashie, Ricardo Scimeca and Neil Redfearn jumping the sinking ship every summer to joina newly promoted team only to find themselves doing the same thing a year later. I think Fer is a cut above those players though, and he was one of the few Norwich players to emerge from last season’s disaster with any credit.

The key for QPR now is to post some early points on the board. The signings they’ve made, added to an already settled and seemingly spirited group, have been excellent, beyond the wildest hopes and dreams of many of us who expected the usual collection of Harry Redknapp 30+ favourites coming in this summer. But two years ago we were picking our jaws up off the floor with one hand and stroking our dicks with the other over the arrivals of Esteban Granero and Julio Cesar. If wins aren’t forthcoming quickly, footballers will look for excuses and start to blame each other. If they are, then there’s no telling just how good this QPR team can be. On paper it’s starting to look exceptionally good.

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Grifter added 01:36 - Aug 22 Great piece Clive. It's all going too well at the moment... I feel exactly the same as I did pre 12-13 season. *Was the omission of Marc Nygaard in the Dutch list intentional?
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SonofNorfolt added 02:29 - Aug 22 Nygaard was Danish. A Norwich friend of mine (surprising I know) said that Fer can be 'languid', remember this adjective in the coming months. We're all hoping for a box to box powerhouse like Vieira or Yaya Toure, not a lesser talented M'bia.
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Recoilboss added 06:49 - Aug 22 In, Out, In, Out, Shake it all about… I’m much happier with the squad today than I was at any stage over the last 3 years - a younger, more promising group to get genuinely excited about - but players come and go at such an alarming rate these days it’s becoming more difficult for me to believe that any of them (no matter how talented) care that much about playing for the R’s, and therefore to experience a proper fan>club ‘belonging' culture. An across the board disease, a symptom of a fast turnover, fleeting attention-span modern age - accepted. Loans were needed last year, and this - also accepted. But only months ago, we had Ravel scoring up at ‘Bora, Benayoun showing up, BEA mincing about picking his nose, Doyle, Keane and Jenas all looking lost or a bit vacant, Tarbs disenchanted, and Cesar counting his wad along with SWP and other disenfranchised bench warmers. I understand it, and how cash is king - it’s a short career - but I’d prefer to see rules which mean a player really does have to see out a contract and stay for the full term, fight for his place, show some real commitment (which applies to the club too course). It won’t happen I know. Agents building in all kinds of contract stipulations which allow players get-outs as soon as their new club is struggling, or not qualifying for elite CL places, means that passion & desire to ensure your team succeeds need not be installed in the psyche. It if all goes tits-up, no worries - a move on is guaranteed. Basically, I miss the 70s. If I look back at those team sheets, they don't change much from season to season. Go ahead, call me old-fashioned…

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GroveR added 07:20 - Aug 22 There'll be plenty of opportunity to play both Faurlin and Fer as Barton is good for missing at least 6 games this season through suspension.
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jonno added 07:40 - Aug 22 Assuming Faurlin stays fit I think he will eventually replace Barton in the midfield, but as has been said there will be plenty of opportunities anyway with Barton's disciplinary record and rotation through injuries etc. It's a nice problem to have. If only we could get someone to take the set pieces better than Barton!
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flatfoot added 08:44 - Aug 22 Another comprehensive analysis, but can I be a little pernickety and point out that Fer did not score his country's first goal in the World Cup this summer. By the time they played Chile in the third rubber of Group B they had already scored eight goals...
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QPunkR added 10:25 - Aug 22 I was initially confused as well, flatfoot, but presume Clive meant that Fer scored his first goal of the WC in that game. Anyone who was there against PAOK or Hull can see Faurlín should start alongside Fer rather than Barton, but Redknapp hasn't got the balls to drop our one-man possession conceder, sadly. Obviously it's a squad game etc etc, but in our position you should always be putting out your best XI where possible, and that categorically does not include Jesus Barton.

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tsbains64 added 17:10 - Aug 22 Not sure about all these new players-seems like we are revising the MH days. Sure I was excited then but look what happened. A couple of wins will ease the soul but Hull was a promising performance so perhaps Arry knows what he is doing Will be sad to see Ale on the sidelines -been a greta servant but would like him to get a few games . Barton is solid and cant see him being put to one side but you never know

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MTG added 17:12 - Aug 22 Despite all the hype, is nobody concerned that relegated Norwich have managed to make a £3m profit on him. Whilst we made huge losses on our 'marquee' signings after we got relegated.
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Match82 added 22:16 - Aug 22 MTG: Most of our marquee players were an embarrassment, which is why we took a loss. The only one of our marquee signings that performed - Remy - is now worth more than we bought him for.
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Burnleyhoop added 11:26 - Aug 23 The scattergun approach has been replaced by a strategy of buying younger , hungrier players for a specific system of play. Even Ferdinand has a point to prove (particularly after the defensive howler against Hull). Ferdinand, Hoddle and Black need to hold the psyche of the team together. The teams that suffer relegation are the ones that stop working and fighting for the cause, just as we did. We are in a completely different place now, but need time to bed the formation and players in as soon as. Feel positive for the first time in ages.

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TacticalR added 17:18 - Aug 25 Another player I don't know too much about. On paper he looks good, and hopefully with a player from the Dutch national team you get someone with positional sense. I agree with 08oelsen that a note of caution (or realism) is in order, as like Caulker and Mutch, Fer was in a relegated side.
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