QPR boss defends decision to sell Manning
Mark Warburton has defended QPR’s transfer deadline-day sale of Ryan Manning to Swansea, insisting the player no longer wanted to be at the club.
Manning, who joined Rangers seven years ago from Galway United for £15,000, departed for South Wales on Friday for an initial fee of £250,000 after protracted contract negotiations failed to come to fruition.
Manning was a key member of Warburton’s side last season after being developed from a central midfielder to a left-back, but had not started a league game this campaign due to his reluctance to re-sign.
The Republic of Ireland international’s contract was due to expire in June and Rangers boss Warburton said the club had no option but to get something for a player who would otherwise have walked away for free.
“He is a very talented boy and we absolutely we wish him all the best with his future career with Swansea,” Warburton said.
“He had a very good season for us last year. But from our point of view, if you make an offer and someone wants to sign then great. But if they don’t then we just have to move on.
“QPR can’t be a club that sees players walk out of the door at the end of their contract for nothing.
“What we have to do is be strong about it and have some short-term pain for long-term gain.
“We have to show where we stand. It’s not about a staff member it’s about a club and we have to be very strong about that.
“I wish Ryan all the best but I only want players to be here and who want to contribute to the team performance.”
20/10/2020 @ 8:02 am
Such a low fee. Honestly think we would have been better keeping & playing him & then probably still would have gotten £250kn in Jan
19/10/2020 @ 4:45 pm
Looks like Manning believes a lot of things recently were ‘out if my control’, if he was happy at QPR he would have signed and not left. I can only assume he had left everything in the hands of his agents. “Nothing to do with me guv” springs to mind.
18/10/2020 @ 11:22 am
No class, no morals. no ambition, no good, now about to fade away. How many more players will be following him ?
18/10/2020 @ 7:58 am
Manning was a terrible left back, and a better midfielder. It’s a shame he didn’t leave QPR showing gratitude and style for Rangers plucking him out of a low league and developing him. Sometimes you need to show a bit of class and if what we’ve read is true he didn’t have any. Shame.