Queens Park Rangers have fired a cheeky dig at Rangers after edging them out in the race to sign Peterborough star Kwame Poku. The talented attacking midfielder – who has been capped for Ghana at senior level – had been heavily linked with Gers in the past 12 months, with Posh director of football Barry Fry revealing Ibrox scouts had watched the player in action. Rangers were said to have an advantage in the transfer tussle over their competitors down south to land the 23-year-old due to FIFA ‘s cross-border rules on compensation development fees for out of contract players. Russell Martin’ s side were confident of landing the midfielder for a fee of around 拢300,000 in compensation compared to the much larger sums of money needed for clubs in England to secure his services. But it is Marti Cifuentes’ R’s who have ultimately came out on top, and the English Championship side have wasted no time in poking fun at Rangers expense. In their post on X to confirm their transfer they trolled the Ibrox giants, writing: “Kwame Poku signs for THE Rangers”, followed by a winking face emoji. It comes less than three years after QPR fans were left furious by manager Michael Beale’s quickfire exit to replace Gio van Bronckhorst north of the border. The former Liverpool youth coach had been in charge at Loftus Road for just 22 matches when he made the move to Rangers in November 2022, having previously worked as Steven Gerrard’s number two in Govan. His decision to leave the London side after just five months did not go down well with R supporters including club favourite and former striker Jamie Mackie, who ripped into the Englishman during an appearance on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday. He said:: “When Michael Beale came in he was a complete unknown and newbie to management. “He was given a fantastic opportunity by QPR and he quickly spoke about his culture of integrity and longevity. He said he’d even spoke to the players and their families about buying into the project and jumping ship to another club. “But now he’s done exactly what he said he wouldn’t do and jumped ship and I think that’s where the problem is. Everyone would understand if he got the chance to manage in the Premier League, but he was the one who came out and spoke about his loyalty. “I really question his integrity and I really wonder what other chairman will think of that in the future. Rangers have got a relationship with him and they understand him, but I look at it and go do I want that character going forward? I’m not so sure. “Maybe managing Rangers is his ultimate dream, but I also noticed he was in the stands when the old manager who hadn’t been sacked yet was still there. I really don’t like that and I certainly don’t like that as a manager he was going up there as a ‘fan’. “Then two weeks later he gets the job? Well that doesn’t sit well with me at all or certainly with an opposing manager. I don’t think it was the right way to act.”