qpr

You just can’t make this kind of stuff up. Former Marseille striker Loic Remy has opened up about his decision to join Premiere League side Queens Park Rangers, and, apparently, a game of Fifa ’12 with the club’s owner Tony Fernandes was one of the main ways he was persuaded. That, and lots of money.

QPR – who will almost certainly be relegated to the Championship League after this season – signed Remy to a deal rumored to be in the ball park of £80,000 to £110,000 a week. The contract does, however, contain clauses that would allow Remy to leave if the club does in fact get relegated. Anyways, about that game of Fifa…

From QPR’s official website:

Fernandes spent over four hours persuading the 26 year-old that W12 was the right place for him to pursue his footballing career – and after the talks finished, the duo found time for a showdown on the world’s favourite football console game.
“It was a special moment that followed our chat about QPR,” Remy toldwww.qpr.co.uk.
“We just played a game of FIFA – it was good and showed to me what a good person Tony is.
“He showed his human side to me as an owner of the club I wanted to join. It was a special moment for us both.”

While it’s pretty obvious the money played a huge factor in Remy’s decision, I do appreciate the fact that he chose to mention a game of Fifa as a reason for why he joined the dreadful club. I also couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that QPR is so bad, they didn’t even play the most current release of Fifa. Assuming one of the two played with QPR, perhaps they used the 2012 release so the Rangers didn’t look as bad? Who knows.

A much needed signing for QPR, but I still don’t see Remy changing the relegation-bound club’s fate.

[ESPN]