£100,000 a week stopper was not prepared for Premier League football.
QPR defender Christopher Samba has shocked fans by claiming that he was not ready for the demands of English football when he joined the club in January, Sky Sports reports.
The 29-year-old centre back made the switch from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in a big money move during the last transfer window but couldn’t help the club avoid relegation to the Championship, which was confirmed during a drab 0-0 draw with fellow strugglers Reading this weekend.
And the former Blackburn man has suggested that he wasn’t fully fit upon his return and wasn’t able to play at his best.
“There is a big feeling of failure. Most of us came to help the team, believing we could have an impact,” he said.
“From my personal point of view, I don’t think I was well prepared to come back to the Premier League. It is the hardest league and you need to be fully fit and really ready to compete.”
Reports have suggested that there are divisions in the club’s dressing room over the wage packets of certain players, but Samba was quick to dispel rumours of any financial based fallings out.
“I don’t know if we can say it is divided. What I can say is that at every club there are affinities. You go into work and you like to sit with specific people, that is what happens, but if everybody respects each other they can work with each other.”