Queens Park Rangers chief executive Christian Nourry claims that his club beat Championship rivals with much deeper pockets to win the race to sign Kwame Poku. QPR emerged as 11th hour candidates for Poku, the 23-year-old winger who was coming up to the end of his contract at Peterborough United. He had been on the radar of plenty of clubs thanks to his goal-making form in League One and Birmingham City had widely been reported to be in pole position to agree a deal this summer. Instead it looked like he might go to St Pauli or Rangers, who wouldn’t have owed Peterborough any compensation due to cross-border rules, before QPR suddenly swept in to lure him to Loftus Road. It is claimed they have agreed a fee of about 拢900,000 plus add-ons with Peterborough as well as an eye-popping wage package. “Kwame is a player that the QPR recruitment department have been interested in for over four years,” said Nourry. “His decision to join the football club today in the face of interest from Europe-competing teams abroad and Championship teams with significantly bigger budgets than us is a fantastic validation of the direction we are moving in, including a specialised focus on individual player development.” Poku added: 鈥淲hen I was speaking to (new QPR boss Julien Stephan) he was talking about where he sees me fitting in and where he thinks I can influence the game. That’s what really attracted me. Being 23 turning 24, I’m not quite young anymore so I want to come in and make my mark from the jump.鈥 Birmingham have other irons in the fire, including old boy Demarai Gray, who came through the ranks before leaving a career that has taken in Leicester, Bayer Leverkusen and Everton before joining Al-Ettifaq in 2023. The Jamaica international, aged 29, is expected to leave Saudi Arabia this summer and could be set for a St Andrew’s homecoming.