MONEYBAGS QPR SIGN ITALIAN PHILANTHROPIST
Queens Park Rangers, one of the richest clubs in the world, have signed experienced Italian international Damiano Tommasi, a player famed for playing on a youth player's wages.
The 34-year-old, who spent a decade at AS Roma and was one of the club’s top-earners, famously instigated the paltry one-year contract in 2005 at the Serie A club in the name of fairness, as he struggled to regain full fitness.
The defensive midfielder, capped 25 times for the Azzuri, was paid, at his own request, the minimum youth wage of just over £1,000-a-month.
Tommasi is also noted for channelling footballers’ disciplinary fines to charitable causes.
Tommasi has joined the London club on a one-year deal, having signed as a free agent. He was released from Spanish club Levante, who were in such financial trouble that they could not pay their staff - not that the Italian would have minded.
Manager Iain Dowie was delighted to sign the midfielder who made over 250 appearances for AS Roma alongside stars such as Francisco Totti and Cafu.
Dowie said: "The signing of Damiano adds great experience to the squad.
"He’ll compliment what Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands provide in that area. In the short term, he could prove to be very useful to us.
"He has played at the highest level for club and country and to have a player of that calibre available can only be good for QPR.
"We’ve got some fantastic young talent in the squad, such as (Emmanuel) Ledesma, (Angelo) Balanta, (Daniel) Parejo and (Hogan) Ephraim, and training with someone of Damiano’s stature will be of huge benefit to them I’m sure."
Queens Park Rangers, one of the richest clubs in the world, have signed experienced Italian international Damiano Tommasi, a player famed for playing on a youth player's wages.
The 34-year-old, who spent a decade at AS Roma and was one of the club’s top-earners, famously instigated the paltry one-year contract in 2005 at the Serie A club in the name of fairness, as he struggled to regain full fitness.
The defensive midfielder, capped 25 times for the Azzuri, was paid, at his own request, the minimum youth wage of just over £1,000-a-month.
Tommasi is also noted for channelling footballers’ disciplinary fines to charitable causes.
Tommasi has joined the London club on a one-year deal, having signed as a free agent. He was released from Spanish club Levante, who were in such financial trouble that they could not pay their staff - not that the Italian would have minded.
Manager Iain Dowie was delighted to sign the midfielder who made over 250 appearances for AS Roma alongside stars such as Francisco Totti and Cafu.
Dowie said: "The signing of Damiano adds great experience to the squad.
"He’ll compliment what Gavin Mahon and Martin Rowlands provide in that area. In the short term, he could prove to be very useful to us.
"He has played at the highest level for club and country and to have a player of that calibre available can only be good for QPR.
"We’ve got some fantastic young talent in the squad, such as (Emmanuel) Ledesma, (Angelo) Balanta, (Daniel) Parejo and (Hogan) Ephraim, and training with someone of Damiano’s stature will be of huge benefit to them I’m sure."
Labels: Championship, Damiano Tommasi, Queens Park Rangers
