Whenever a club like Queens Park Rangers decide to take a trip to France to watch some Ligue 1 football, we always take a look in our archive to see if any of the players on display were subjects of interest for the Championship side in the past.
One of the club’s scouts was present at Bordeaux-Caen on Sunday, where a certain Alexander Djiku was playing.
Back in 2017, when the centre-back was still playing for Bastia, Corse-Matin claimed QPR were one of the clubs interested in his signature, only for the now 24-year-old to prioritise a stay in France, where he ended up signing for Caen for just £1.8m.
The game finished 0-0, which will have helped the defender showcase his ability to those present (Wolverhampton and West Brom scouts were also there), but the scoreline won’t have helped someone else the R’s have had a look at before.
Back in 2015-16, it was reported that QPR had sent scouts to watch Bordeaux a few times, where a 20-year-old Enzo Crivelli led the line occasionally (15 starts in the league), full of promise and potential ability.
Fast forward a couple of years later, and the 23-year-old is now playing for Caen, having also spent times at Angers, where things didn’t go well for him.
A strong forward with good off the ball movement, Crivelli, on paper, is the typical Championship number nine, using his physique to disturb the opposition and get on the end of crosses, which has helped him find the back of the net three times in 11 appearances so far this season.
Something to think about for January, as QPR continue to struggle to get their strikers on the scoresheet, with Tomer Hemed and Nahki Wells, on three and two goals respectively, both on loan from Brighton and Burnley.
