Following the departure of Charlie Austin, Queens Park Rangers boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has paid £350,000 to take Nasser El Khayati from Burton Albion.
The Loftus Road club felt they had little choice but to let Austin join Southampton last month for a fee of £4million, as he entered the final six months of his contract. Hasselbaink has now returned to his former club to replenish his attacking options, luring El Khayati from Burton where he has scored 11 goals in 44 appearances since the Dutch coach signed him from Kozakken Boys last January.
“I am very happy to work again with Jimmy,” El Khayati told the official club website. “He has been a big help for me on and off the pitch. I have developed as a player with him and I am looking forward to continuing to improve at QPR. Hard work has got me to this stage in my career but I want to progress even further now. I am more than confident that I will have a positive impact.”
El Khayati is a product of the PSV Eindhoven youth system, although he failed to progress to the first team picture with the Philips Stadion club. He moved on to Den Bosch, NAC Breda and Greek side Olympiakos Nicosia, before he scored 12 goals in 17 games for Kozakken which earned him a move to Burton after Reading decided against taking him following a trial spell.
“He wants to work hard and wants to keep improving,” said Hasselbaink. “He’s a very technical player – he likes to take people on and create. He is a player that the supporters will like. This will be a step up – but we are confident he can continue to improve here. He’s somebody that I firmly believe will succeed at QPR. He really wanted to come here and play for the club.”
