- How is Adel Taarabt, the former star of QPR and Spurs, doing?
When it comes to football fans naming a stereotyped ‘Streets Won’t Forget’ player from their time on English shores, Adel Taarabt is one of the biggest perpetrators.
Supporters of Queens Park Rangers are left to reflect on the innumerable brilliant performances the former Tottenham Hotspur player bestowed upon them in West London, as the team has come a long way since the Moroccan last wore the Blue and White hoops.
Before signing for an incredible £1 million, Taarabt made the move across London on a loan agreement that was initially extended into the 2009–10 season. This was in advance of his breakthrough season under Neil Warnock, during which he scored an incredible 19 goals and provided 21 assists as the R’s easily won the Championship.
However, after failing to establish himself in the Premier League and mutually deciding to end his contract with the club, which has taken him on a fairly interesting professional path, it has already been nine years since the mysterious Taarabt played his last game in this part of the city.
In light of all of this, FLW examines how, at 35, Taarabt’s career is now developing.
Adel Taarabt’s present situation as he finishes his career in the United Arab Emirates
Taarabt’s football career has undoubtedly been interesting; he had loan stints with AC Milan and Fulham, two of Rangers’ west London rivals, while he was still under contract with the team, and then he returned to play in Europe when his contract was ended.
But Taarabt bid farewell to European football and made a move to the United Arab Emirates, joining Al-Nasr in September 2022, after a protracted seven-year tenure with Portuguese powerhouse Benfica, which included a brief return to the Serie A in the form of a two-season stint with Genoa between 2016 and 2018 before ultimately making his debut at the Estadio Da Luz four years after signing.
Taarabt’s contributions to the Dubai-based team increased tenfold last season after he renewed his contract at the Al Maktoum Stadium. Taarabt had a very respectable tally of 11 goals and four assists in his first 30 matches during his first season at the club, which Al-Nasr finished ninth in.
In the previous campaign, Taarabt led the team in 20 of his 28 games as captain. He scored eight goals and provided seven assists in the UAE Pro League, helping Alfred Schreuder’s team climb to sixth place in the standings. Taarabt was the focal point of the team’s success, much like he was during his time in London.
“I am netting goals.” Here, I take my football very seriously. Big stars don’t always deliver when they come here,” Taarabt said in a March interview with “The National.”
It was while strolling along the shore when I noticed Bobby Zamora. He complimented me on my physical appearance and claimed that I would have been among the finest in the world at age 20 if I had adopted this mindset.
The former Spurs star has continued to play well for Al-Nasr this season, scoring three goals and dishing out two assists in the team’s opening two league games, thrashing Al-Orooba 5-1 and FC Baniyas 4-1.
Fans of QPR will have conflicting feelings about Adel Taarabt’s performance as of late.
Taarabt’s supporters will be happy to watch him play to the best of his abilities given the stellar run of play he is now enjoying in Dubai, but they will also harbor some remorse as they were disappointed by his lack of success in the Premier League.
Being only 22 years old during his most memorable season, Zamora, his former teammate and the scorer of one of Rangers’ most memorable goals, thought he had what it took to reach the pinnacle of the game.
The French-born Moroccan then claimed that contacts with the then-rich Russian football teams, Anzi Makhachkala, Chelsea, and Arsenal, had led to inquiries from both teams about his services.
The 30-time international struggled to stay consistent in the top flight after that, and a big-money move never happened. Nevertheless, his final stats of 34 goals and 40 assists in 164 games for QPR demonstrate why he is still held in such high regard, and he also made 15 appearances in the UEFA Champions League and appeared 129 times for Benfica.
Even though Taarabt is clearly nearing the end of his career, at 35, he has finally found a team and management that can fully utilize his skill set, leaving many to wonder, “What could have been?”
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