QPR have signed former Italian international midfielder Damiano Tommasi on a one year contract.

Tommasi played with distinction for Roma and Verona in his homeland but has more recently been playing for Levante in Spain before his release on a free transfer this summer. The 34 year old midfield player has signed for QPR until the end of the current campaign.

He has 25 full Italian caps and played in every match of the 2002 World Cup when the Azzuri were beaten by hosts South Korea. He has since suffered badly with injuries though, ironically brought on in 2004 in a clash with our old friend Gerry Taggert in a friendly between Roma and Stoke. That put him out of action for a year and when he finally returned he asked Roma to pay him youth teamer wages in the interests of fairness. Tomassi also campaigns for football disciplinary fines to go to good causes in his spare time.

Iain Dowie told the club’s official website: “The signing of Damiano adds great experience to the squad. He’ll compliment what Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands provide in that area. He has played at the highest level for club and country and to have a player of that calibre available can only be good for QPR.

“We’ve got some fantastic young talent in the squad and training with somebody of Damiano’s stature will be of huge benefit to them I’m sure. In the short term he could prove very useful to us.”

QPR have already been struggling to find room in the starting eleven for the plethora of midfielders currently on the books and Dowie’s insistence that Mikele Leigertwood must play every week. Last year’s player of the season Martin Rowlands is yet to start a league game and Hogan Ephraim is struggling to even make the bench. It’s unclear who will see their game time restricted by this new arrival but it’s likely to be Mahon and Rowlands again I think.

On the face of it this is something of a coup for the club however his age and poor recent record with injuries means I’ll be treating this announcement with cautious optimism and nothing more just at the moment. If he can get fit this is a fantastic signing.

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