Post by QPR Report on Nov 8, 2008 9:27:29 GMT
"...[Cardiff] City had to pay a loan fee to sign Chopra for the next two months, around £200,000. They are also having to pay his full Premier League wages of £25,000-plus a week."
Western Mail/Terry Phillips - Bluebirds keen to keep loan star Michael Chopra
MICHAEL CHOPRA is back and looks certain to lead Cardiff City’s attack alongside Eddie Johnson at Queens Park Rangers today.
Chops will be with the Bluebirds for at least two months – and manager Dave Jones clearly wants him to stay a lot longer than that.
Jones would love to re-sign the goalscorer on a permanent basis and the question was asked during talks on the loan move. Sunderland would want to recoup the £4.5m they have already paid for Chopra, who joined the Premier League club 16 months ago.
There are two more payments possible – £250,000 after three more league appearances (three more games needed) and the same again after 50 Premier matches.
“Roy Keane does not want to sell Chops, but maybe we can get him for longer by extending the loan,” said Jones. “But we are not thinking beyond the end of the current loan spell right now.
“If anything changes between now and then, we will react to that.”
Sunderland certainly won’t let Chopra, still only 24, go on the cheap and will want their money back if this loan turns into a full transfer.
To achieve a £4.5m signing while also building a new stadium, Cardiff City would surely have to raise cash by selling another player.
That could well mean Joe Ledley, with only 18 months left on his contract and no sign of him signing a new deal, could be allowed to move if the right offer came during January.
Stoke City offered £6m for Ledley in August and the Bluebirds turned that down flat. Ledley was certainly tempted by the chance of Premier League football – and has been below his best for Cardiff this season.
If Stoke return, even with a slightly lower offer, then Cardiff could well say yes to fund a big-money move for Chopra.
The alternative is for Ledley to stay. His value, unless he changes his mind and agrees a new deal, would be likely to drop dramatically.
That is the dilemma Jones and chairman Peter Ridsdale will face as Chopra’s initial loan spell draws towards a close.
He is here until December 31 – 11 games in total.
That starts against Queens Park Rangers today – and will finish against Plymouth Argyle at home on Sunday, December 28.
<strong>City had to pay a loan fee to sign Chopra for the next two months, around £200,000. They are also having to pay his full Premier League wages of £25,000-plus a week.
Chopra’s salary, plus that of Johnson, on loan from Fulham and on similar money, means a mighty chunk of the playing budget is being spent on those two.</strong>
American Johnson is expected to stay until the end of this season, unless an agreement could be reached with Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, and Jones would love to keep Chopra as well.
Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City were among other clubs keen to sign Chopra, but he opted for a return to Cardiff.
Chopra scored 22 goals for the Bluebirds two seasons ago, prompting his £5m summer transfer to Wearside.
“This loan move to Cardiff is an opportunity for Chops to get some games,” said Sunderland boss Keane. “It is an opportunity he wanted and has taken.
“He has been coming to me and asking for a chance and if I can’t guarantee them games here and there is a deal that is good for the player and the club then we will put it to them.
“Chops will get some games and I guarantee you he will get goals. We wish him well. He is just on loan.”
Geordie Chopra can’t wait to get started at QPR today, saying: “It’s ironic that my first match back with Cardiff is against QPR, who were another of the teams wanting to sign me.
“<strong>The biggest factor in my decision to choose Cardiff ahead of Rangers was that I know many of the players here and I have kept in daily contact with one or two of them.
“The manager, Dave Jones, is as honest as they come and has always been ready to help me with advice when needed.</strong> “Things have changed dramatically in Cardiff with the new training ground and a new stadium growing opposite Ninian Park. This football club is trying to get to the Premier League – and has high ambition just like myself.
“It was unfortunate I was only here for one season, but I had the chance to play in the Premier League and took it.
“Now I am back with Cardiff, but I have nothing to prove. I scored 22 goals for Cardiff a couple of seasons ago and six for Sunderland when we knew it would be tough to stay in the Premier League.
“This season I have scored twice in only a handful of games. Now I have the chance to play regular football – and I can’t wait.”
Chopra has started only once for Sunderland this season, scoring both goals in the 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough during September.
He was an unused substitute in the 2-1 home victory over his former club Newcastle last month and was not in the 18-man squad at Chelsea last weekend, when Keane preferred 18-year-old rookie Martyn Waghorn.
Cardiff City have five players ruled out by injury at QPR today – Ross McCormack, Jay Bothroyd, Mark Kennedy, Tony Capaldi and Riccy Scimeca.
The closest of those to being fit for Championship action are McCormack and Kennedy, who are hopeful of being available to face Crystal Palace at Ninian Park next Saturday.
McCormack has a hamstring injury and insists he is 90 to 95 per cent certain to play and Kennedy has suffered a calf strain.
While McCormack may be too optimistic in his estimate, he is certainly closing in on fitness fast and both will be back running from early next week – Jones says: “Then we will know more.”
There was an added complication before today’s clash with big spending Rangers, where ex-Cardiff player Gareth Ainsworth is caretaker manager, when the City camp was hit by sickness.
A number of players have suffered from a 24-hour bug this week and three were left off the team coach when the City squad left South Wales for London yesterday.
They travelled to London by car to ensure the sickness did not spread through the squad.
Manager Jones would not reveal which players were ill yesterday because he is confident they will be OK, while he has added teenagers Jon Brown, Aaron Morris and Darren Dennehy to the travelling party.
...Chopra is with Cardiff City on loan for 11 Championship matches including Queens Park Rangers away this afternoon, followed by Crystal Palace (home), Plymouth Argyle (away), Reading (home), Swansea City (away), Preston North End (home), Burnley (away), Ipswich Town (away), Sheffield Wednesday (home), Reading (away) and Plymouth Argyle (home).
