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By MARTIN BLACKBURN

CHRIS SAMBA aims to prove he is worth the money today by keeping Robin van Persie and Manchester United QUIET.

QPR’s Congolese centre-back was labelled one of the biggest gambles in Premier League history after his £12million deadline-day move to Loftus Road.

Samba agreed to take a huge drop on his £120,000-a-week wages at Anzhi Makhachkala. Yet his 4½-year deal with Rangers is still believed to be worth around a whopping £18m — earning him £77,000 a week.

It will be money well spent if he helps lead Harry Redknapp’s men to survival over the final three months of the season.

Rangers’ 0-0 draw against Norwich on Samba’s debut was sharply followed by a massive wake-up call — a 4-1 drubbing at Swansea — a fortnight ago.

But shutting out 23-goal RVP and the champions-elect in West London today would be a good way to win over any doubters.

Samba, 28, said: “Van Persie is an excellent player but I’ve been working on my fitness and I’m really much fitter than I was for the last game at Swansea.

“So it will be more difficult to beat me.

“He is on fire but I am positive I can have a good game against him — although it is not only him we have to stop because United have a lot of top players.

“They will win the Premier League this year but they are coming to QPR and we need the points more.

“When you play against top teams, you need to be on top of your game. We have everyone pointing in the same direction and we need to put that into practice out on the pitch.”

Rangers have splashed out big money and big wages since they were promoted to the top flight two years ago — yet find themselves rock bottom of the table and seven points adrift of safety.

Given their predicament and the cost of going down, Samba’s deal represented a last throw of the dice by the stricken club.

Yet the former Blackburn defender says the eye-watering sums had nothing to do with him and believes his experience of fighting relegation with Rovers can help his new club.

He said: “I don’t know how you judge if it’s too much money but I know some people do.

“Is £12m too much? I don’t know. Or if it was another player would it be OK? Maybe someone else is more worth it?

“Maybe some people believe what I have done in football, my reputation, what I did at Blackburn was enough for this.

“I’m not there to judge it. I’ve been bought. It’s not me who chose to buy me. I didn’t set the price. I’ve been bought for a reason — because QPR believe I can make a difference.

“I certainly believed I could lead the team. I don’t know if it will be enough but, one thing is for sure, I will do my best to help the team.

“People can talk about these things but they don’t really know me. When I go on to the pitch, I give everything. Sometimes everything can be fantastic, sometimes it can be not enough, but I give my all.”

Samba spent the final year of his time at Blackburn battling to stave off relegation before his move to Russia last February.

But he insisted: “I don’t think here is really similar to what happened at Blackburn. Emotionally, it’s very different, too.

“But, of course, when you get some experience you know how to handle it better. And that’s something I can help with.

“When you know what’s going on, sometimes you see how a player can react and you can say, ‘Guys, just keep calm and let’s talk about what’s gone wrong’.”

Rangers chairman Tony Fernandes even surprised Redknapp when he told the manager he had signed Samba in January.

But the 6ft 5in centre-back jumped at the chance to be re-united with his young family in England.

And he believes the club he left behind — Anzhi, who face Newcastle in the last 16 of the Europa League next month — are destined to become one of the biggest names in world football.

The moneybags Russian outfit are currently managed by Dutch legend Guus Hiddink and have big-name stars such as Samuel Eto’o and Willian in their squad.

Brazil playmaker Willian cost Anzhi a massive £30m from Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this month.

But Samba said: “Tony Fernandes showed great belief in me and I will try to pay him back.

“I think the transfer came across totally wrong because of the valuation. At Anzhi, I had three years left on a big salary so, obviously, if I came to QPR it was not to make more money.

“I came back to England for personal reasons but I’m sure that Anzhi will be one of the biggest clubs in the world.

“They have an owner who is investing so much in the team, they just paid a lot of money to sign Willian.

“So you know you have to be crazy to leave a team like this but it was just a question of me really wanting to be back with my boys.

“I have two young boys I want to have a great life with.

“That’s why I decided to come back to Europe but Anzhi will really be one of the big teams in world football.”

 

 

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