QPR sign Mbia and Barton joins Marseille
QPR have completed the capture of Cameroon international Stephane Mbia from Marseille, who have signed Joey Barton on a season-long loan.
Mbia joins Rangers for an undisclosed fee and has agreed a two-year contract at Loftus Road.
The 26-year-old has been signed as a centre-back but has also operated as a defensive midfielder for much of his career.
Barton’s future has been the subject of much speculation since his violent outburst at Manchester City on the final day of last season, which led to the controversial midfielder being hit with a 12-match ban.
The fall-out from the incident muddied the waters somewhat, as he was already one of a number of players Rangers manager Mark Hughes intended to replace this summer.
Hughes described reports he wanted to loan Barton to a League club in order to quickly run down the player’s suspension as “completely false.”
Barton faced losing the captaincy and his place in the team even without the events at the Eitihad Stadium in what will almost certainly be his last appearance for the club, regardless of the fact that he has two years left on his contract.
His loan move to Marseille was first mooted when QPR made an enquiry about Mbia, who was made available by the French club.
It was initially suggested to Hughes that a deal for Barton would only be agreed if he bought Mbia.
Rangers, believing the Mbia deal was not progressing and looked unlikely to go through before the transfer deadline, subsequently abandoned discussions – yet Marseille’s interest in Barton continued.
With Barton edging closer to agreeing his move, talks over Mbia resumed – with the R’s particularly keen to sign him after being dealt a blow in their bid to prise defender Michael Dawson away from Tottenham.
They were hopeful of persuading the 28-year-old England international to join them before the deadline even though he had appeared reluctant to make the switch.
But Spurs, who had accepted an offer for Dawson, decided to keep him after learning that Younes Kaboul will be sidelined for up to four months with a knee injury.
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