Hiddink upset with Samba departure
Congolese defender Christopher Samba's decision to walk out on Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, apparently to seal a transfer to English Premier League Queen's Park Rangers, has angered Anzhi's Dutch manager Guus Hiddink.
Reports in the British press indicate Samba is keen to join struggling Rangers in a 10-million-pound deal and he is said to to have left a training camp in Spain to undergo a medical in London.
Hiddink said: "The existing situation is not really good for us. He (Samba) started the pre-season training with us but in recent days he began to contact England despite the fact that he is still under contract with Anzhi.
"Yesterday he went to England. Hopefully tomorrow we will find out that's going on."
He added: "I'm really upset with this situation as Samba departed even without saying goodbye to anyone of us. Whatever is going on, I believe, you should never ignore people with whom you were working side by side."
Samba, 28, who also holds French nationality, joined Anzhi last year from relegated Blackburn Rovers, where he had played for five years.
QPR manager Harry Redknapp is looking to bolster his defence for the coming relegation struggle and would welcome the chance to bring Samba on board, ironically as a replacement for his former Blackburn defensive partner Ryan Nelsen, who is heading for Toronto. Anton Ferdinand has also joined Bursaspor on loan.
Samba has been quoted as saying he is happy with Anzhi, although sources close to the player have indicated he would jump at a move back to England where his family are still based, if the conditions were right.
However, he was the target of a racist attack last year when a fan threw a banana directly at him after Anzhi match with Lokomotiv Moscow. Samba threw the banana back into the crowd but later expressed regret in doing so.
At the time he said: "I am very upset that this happened in front of children who were sitting in the same stand. It is a really terrible example for them."
