Samba a good move for QPR

Harry Redknapp was up to his usual tricks during Queen's Park Rangers' 0-0 draw with Manchester City on Tuesday night. The veteran boss fielded seven defenders and named two goalkeepers on the bench for the encounter, before claiming his squad was “a bit thin”.

It was nothing more than a ploy to convince chairman Tony Fernandes to dip into his pockets again and invest before today's 11pm transfer deadline as the R's look to stave off the threat of relegation.

It isn't the first time Redknapp has pulled this trick to persuade a club to bring in another player – back in 2011 when in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, the veteran boss purposefully started Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar in the midfield during the 5-1 defeat to City so Daniel Levy would pay the £5m West Ham United demanded for Scott Parker.

The plan has seemingly worked for the former Spurs manager, with the club reportedly close yo securing the signature of Jermaine Jenas, Peter Crouch and, perhaps most importantly, Christopher Samba.

The powerful centre-back has been strongly linked with a return to the Premiership in recent weeks and rumours continue to circulate that QPR have agreed to pay Anzhi Makhachkala £12m in order to secure his services.

While the £100k-a-week wages may be excessive, his defensive capabilities will only aid in the R's attempts to survive in the Premier League this year. Also a goalscoring threat, the chances of the west London side remaining in England's top tier grows stronger with his imminent arrival.

Follow @BenMcAleer1