Martí Cifuentes arrived at Queens Park Rangers from Hammarby IF in October 2023 and guided them to 18th in the Championship last season.
Prior to his arrival at QPR, the 42-year-old spent close to two seasons with the Swedish club, managing 73 games in all competitions in the process.
Jesper Jansson was the director of football when Cifuentes arrived at Hammarby and left them months before the manager moved to QPR.
Jansson, who joined Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia in July 2023, has been speaking to Fotbollskanalen‘s podcast Lundh to discuss his time at Hammarby.
Cifuentes was replaced by with Kim Hellberg and when discussing the latter’s arrival, the director reveals about the Spaniard.
“No, but I had a little chat with him [Hellberg] when I was in Cyprus. But there it was a bit like that, it was an important part. Marti wasn’t entirely on board with the club’s strategy,” he said.
The former official was then asked why the current QPR manager wasn’t ‘on board 100%’ at Hammarby, and when responding to that, Jansson explained: “It’s quite clear if you look at the players who have done extremely well this year. There were players that he didn’t prioritise at all.”
Jansson has indicated Cifuentes’ plans for the Swedish club didn’t align with their transfer strategies and this didn’t please the Spaniard.
“Yes, it wasn’t really that players like Tesfaldet Tekie or Pavle Vagic. It’s no secret. When we rebuilt a bit, it was probably so that it did not play completely with Marti,” he added.
“They didn’t become them (the players he wanted, editor’s note). Now they are pushing on in an incredibly good way, a lot more players. Then just this with the HTFF concept was well. Yes, a bit like that. “Yes, [Cifuentes wasn’t impressed] not quite in the same way.”
QPR have struggled under Cifuentes this season and are currently bottom of the table with 11 points after 16 games.
