Fulham have secured the services of the mercurial Adel Taarabt from QPR on a season-long, with the Moroccan star the latest high-earner to leave the Championship club this transfer window.
Taarabt arrives at Craven Cottage after a turbulent summer at QPR, during which the midfielder was reportedly sent home from a pre-season training camp for disciplinary reasons. It became apparent Taarabt could be heading for the exit at Loftus Road when he was left out of QPR’s opening Championship game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday.
Taarabt was linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain in the live football commentary but now appears set for a quick return to the Premier League after going down with QPR last season. The talented Moroccan playmaker was brought to England by Jol when the Dutch coach was at Spurs, although Taarabt never managed to break into the first team at White Hart Lane before leaving for QPR.
But after Taarabt proved himself in the top flight last season, Jol has now moved to add the 24-year old to his squad ahead of the new Premier League season.
“I like his creativity and, of course, sometimes it comes off when he scores a lot of goals and I think he was involved in 40 goals [during the 2010/11 Championship promotion season].”
“It is like Dimitar Berbatov – sometimes these fantastic talents will be blamed but I hope to find a way to gel him in together with the boys we’ve got. I think he can do a hell of a job for us because is a tremendous player on the ball,” admitted Jol.
While there will always be concerns among football betting pundits regarding Taarabt’s temperament, if Jol can get the best out of the midfielder then he will have a genuine match-winner on his hands.
