Ledesma at QPR and Paladini's Response

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Dave McIntyre - BBC 606 - Only fools rush in

There won't be an early attempt to tie up Emmanuel Ledesma’s permanent signing despite his immediate impact at QPR.
Rangers have the option to buy Ledesma for around £2.2m at the end of his season-long loan from Genoa.
But they do not have to wait until then and are free to try and complete his transfer before the summer.
Few would complain if the club looked to do so now rather than later in the season given Ledesma’s recent displays.
Reading comments from fans after his hat-trick against Carlisle, it’s clear some are worried he could be snatched by another club and feel he should be signed sooner rather than later.
But Rangers are in no rush and so far have not given in to any temptation to try and make the move happen.
His long-term loan means Ledesma’s immediate future is definitely with QPR and the option to buy at an agreed price of three million euros is watertight.
It also doesn’t take a genius to work out that promotion to the Premier League would go a long way to making sure Ledesma is still with Rangers next season.
So nothing has changed since Ledesma’s initial loan was agreed – apart from his profile.
I didn’t see the Carlisle game as I was a away for a couple of days but a colleague who went along was more than impressed – with Ledesma especially.
Two older observers have even told me they haven’t seen a player like him at QPR since the days of Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles.
As a Roy Wegerle fan I definitely wouldn’t go along with that.
It’s also too soon to judge Ledesma, who has so far run riot in two cup games against lower-division sides and tasted the harshness of Championship football in the defeat at Sheffield United.
Bigger tests lie ahead – one of them being the sheer number of games played in this country.
And the tough away games will be real examinations of both Ledesma and Rangers’ promotion credentials this season.
But he is so exciting – a player every Rangers fan seems to be talking about at the moment.
So exciting that despite knowing, as most of us do, the terms of his move from Genoa and being out of London and away from all things QPR, I couldn’t help wondering if maybe, just maybe, the last few days had convinced the board to get the deal to sign him done.
Unaware that a toddler sitting near me in a coffee shop was warming up for the mother of all tantrums, I called Gianni Paladini to find out if Ledesma was tied to a chair back in west London being deprived of sleep until he signed a 10-year contract.
Paladini confirmed that he wasn’t and that no attempts were being made to get Ledesma signed at this stage. He has after all barely unpacked his suitcase. Paladini has also lived in this country long enough to have been very English in not commenting on what may have sounded like a child or animal being tortured in the background.
Unlike one afternoon when I was speaking on the phone to Ian Holloway downstairs at TV Centre.
It was a Thursday and he was going through the names on a very long list of players injured for the game that Saturday, when Paul O’Grady walked past me talking to some people quite loudly.
At first Ollie ignored this and carried on bemoaning his injury list but as the commotion in the background continued, he finally asked: “Are you with Lily Savage?”
Back to Paladini. We haven’t always seen eye-to-eye but he was in a chatty mood on Wednesday and naturally on a high after the previous night’s game.
Seeing as we were mates all of a sudden, I tried to steer him towards some transfer news but he quickly steered the conversation back to him and Iain Dowie spotting Ledesma playing at a summer tournament in Italy.
Well fielded. But I always know what they’re up to over there, despite their best efforts.
In fact with a good telescope, I reckon I could quite literally see what they’re up to from here. Now there’s an idea. BBC606


[The original BBC story was obviously also by Dave McIntyre]

BBC -QPR in no rush over Ledesma deal
QPR sporting director Gianni Paladini insists the club do not need to rush Emmanuel Ledesma's permanent signing.
Rangers have an option to buy Ledesma for around £2.2m after his season-long loan from Genoa but do not have to wait until then to complete the deal.
The Argentine has made a big impact and scored a hat-trick against Carlisle.
But Paladini said: "We have him for a year and don't have to worry about anyone else signing him. There's no need to rush."
Ledesma, 20, arrived at Loftus Road along with Fiorentina striker Samuel Di Carmine and was followed by highly-rated Real Madrid midfielder Dani Parejo.
"We just want to give him (Ledesma) time to settle in and enjoy his football," Paladini added.
"We have a few young players we just want to gel together and be happy here. We're focused on that for now." BBC