QPR have agreed to sell midfielder Simon Walton to Championship rivals Plymouth Argyle for a fee in the region of £700k.
As first reported on LoftforWords on Sunday the former Leeds midfielder has signed a four year deal at Home Park and will replace veteran Frenchman Lilian Nalis at the heart of the Pilgrims’ midfield.
As ever the fee is officially undisclosed but it seems that QPR have made a profit on Walton despite his injury problems – the total transfer fee could rise as high as £700,000 depending on appearances and achievements made by the player during his time on the south coast.
It’s fair to say that Walton hasn’t had the best of times at QPR. He looked to be an excellent addition to the squad last summer when John Gregory defied the club’s worsening financial situation and successful landed the player in a cut price £250k deal from Charlton. He was sure to be a key part of the line up however in his first appearance at Loftus Road, against Fulham in a pre-season friendly, he got his studs caught in the ground and suffered a broken leg.
This kept him out of the team for six months and his luck didn’t improve much either. During his absence Gregory was replaced by Luigi De Canio who didn’t seem to rate Walton at all, and the new money the club suddenly found itself flush with enabled the R’s to sign Mikele Leigertwood and Gavin Mahon who both play a similar role to Walton. The writing was on the wall and despite being QPR’s man of the match in his only start for the club so far, ironically at Plymouth on Boxing Day, he was shipped out to Hull City on loan for the last three months of the campaign.
Things seemed to be looking up for him this summer when Iain Dowie, the man that took him to Charlton from Leeds, was appointed as QPR boss however and while Dowie did not want to sell the player he could not guarantee Walton first team football and therefore the player asked to be excused from the club’s training camp in Scotland to go to Plymouth and discuss terms on a four year deal.
Personally I wish Simon all the very best for the future – he’s a player I rate very highly and thought would play a key role at QPR this season. Certainly in my opinion he’s every bit as good if not better than the other players we currently have in his position and I hope the decision to sell doesn’t come back to haunt us.
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