QPR must reawaken sleeping goal machine to fight for Championship play-offs - opinion

For the last three seasons, no QPR player has managed a double figure Championship goal tally. Ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, adding a prolific marksman is a priority for new manager Julien Stephan.

However, the R’s may not need to spend a single penny to find that source of goals and instead turn their attention inwards. Last summer, QPR spent a reported £1.7 million on bringing Zan Celar to Loftus Road from FC Lugano and are yet to see the player’s best.

Over the 2023/24 campaign, Celar plundered 21 goals in all competitions. While the Championship was always going to be a step up from the Swiss Super League, there is a goal machine there ready to be reawakened.

QPR must reawaken sleeping giant

It’s easy for QPR supporters to write off the striker after a torrid first season with the club. Celar was injury ridden and didn’t feature for the side after the start of December due to a hamstring injury.

The forward made such a little impact, you’d be forgiven for forgetting he featured at all, but the 26-year-old was handed 19 Championship outings over the first half of the season. He scored two goals in those appearances, both in a 2-0 win over Cardiff City.

That was the only moment of promise from Celar last season but hints that the player could be a sleeping giant for QPR. Celar started that fixture slowly but was a man reborn after hitting the back of the net. Rated an 8/10 for his performance by West London Sport, the outlet wrote: “It seemed like the same old story after a quiet start for Celar, interrupted by heavy touches when he occasionally had the ball, but he sparked into life with a superb turn and half-volley to score his first QPR goal and the lift that gave his confidence was evident when he coolly dinked in the second. Great stuff.”

Zan Celar is ‘real fighter’

Speaking after the match, QPR goalkeeper Paul Nardi said: "I'm so happy for Zan. He's a real fighter. After missing the penalty, he had a very tough week, but when he scored, you could see how much the team believes in him. We're a close-knit group, and that's why we're so happy for him.”

QPR could search long and hard across the continent for a player with Celar’s profile but, if Stephan can help the forward feel confident again, they already have that source of goals at home. So far in pre-season, the signs have been promising.

Most importantly, Celar is fit and getting minutes. Against Toulouse, he also found himself on the scoresheet. That goal came from a penalty but, even before then, the talisman had hit the post when connecting with a Kieran Morgan cross and had come close to turning a Paul Smyth cross into the net.

Not signing a new striker this summer would be a risk for QPR but, just maybe, their top scorer next term is already in the ranks.

In other news, Marti Cifuentes gives candid take on QPR tenure in first Leicester City interview.