QPR may quickly come to regret strange Bristol City transfer: View | OneFootball

QPR's sale of promising young striker Sinclair Armstrong to Championship rivals Bristol City is a decision that could come back to haunt them.

Selling your best young players to a divisional rival doesn't often go hand-in-hand with future success, and Queen's Park Rangers decision to sanction the sale of striker Sinclair Armstrong to Bristol City seems a somewhat bizarre call on the face of it.

21-year-old Armstrong, born in Dublin, started out in the youth setup of League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers, though rarely had chance to feature for the senior side before West London club QPR signed him in 2020, capitalising early on the clear ability of the youngster.

Quick, powerful and aggressive, Armstrong would eventually go out on loan to non-league sides Torquay United and Aldershot Town. These were short, but productive spells where the striker would score four goals in a combined 11 appearances for the Gulls and the Shots while learning about the all-round demands of a front man in the senior game.

Armstrong, who made his senior Republic of Ireland debut last year after featuring for his country at age group levels ranging from Under-17's to Under-21's, had shown enough for Rangers to consider him part of their first-team squad for the 2022/23 Championship season.

Since that point, Armstrong played a total of 2,434 minutes over 64 appearances for an inconsistent, often struggling QPR side, with many appearances coming from the bench for a Rangers side regularly flirting with relegation to League One.

While the young forward would only score four goals during his time with the Hoops, his potential and raw ability was there for all to see. Having gained a reasonable level of experience at a high level, many saw Armstrong as QPR's future, a wise investment, both in terms of potential ceiling, and longer-term, financially.

That version of the future never happened for the attacker in West London, however, as Rangers surprisingly sold the youngster to second-tier rivals Bristol City over the summer for what was reported by the Irish Independent as being the best part of €3m, beating fellow Championship side Stoke City to his signature.

Bristol City acquiring huge potential for €3m outlay

While Armstrong is yet to emerge as a prolific goalscorer at second-tier level, the possibilities of success for someone with his attributes and natural ability far outweigh the cons for Bristol City in making this deal.

The former Shamrock academy graduate, whose move to the Robins earned his former club around £700k, has adapted and excelled quickly at every step of his flegling career thus far, and many will back him to do the same at Ashton Gate.

City haven't signed the finished article, they've invested in potential. Something that has every chance of guarenteeing them goals and threat aplenty across the striker's four-year contract in the South West, with hopes of a huge profit further down the line.

There's no guarentees in football, but the combination of Sinclair's youth, experience, skill-set and possible further development all point to a smart piece of business from City, and a questionable one from a QPR point of view.

Armstrong already a starter at Ashton Gate

The young striker has already emerged as the Robins first-choice striker at the start of the 2024/25 season, starting all three Championship games, while coming off the bench during the EFL Cup clash with Coventry City.

Linking up well with the likes of Mark Sykes, Anis Mehmeti and Max Bird, Armstrong has been manager Liam Manning's preferred choice ahead of French youngster Fally Mayulu and the experienced Nahki Wells for a City side that have mad a solid start, with league draws at Hull City and at home against cup opponents Coventry, and 4-3 victory in a topsy-turvy clash with Millwall.

The recent win over the Lions saw Armsrtrong score his first goal for the club, putting his side 2-0 up early in the first-half, and Mannig, City and the player himself will be hoping it's the first of many during his stay at Ashton Gate.

Armstrong will return to Loftus Road with the Robins near the end of the season, and it will interesting to see the repective fortunes of all involved in the deal at that point.

Rangers' boss Marti Cifuentes has done a good job as Hoops manager on the whole, but his decision to allow Armstrong, with a promising future in front of him and great potential to go much higher, to move to a Championship rival is one he and QPR may well come to regret.