Chris Willock is developing into an ‘incredible talent’ at QPR five years after leaving Premier League giants Arsenal on a free transfer, Rangers team-mate and captain Stefan Johansen tells talkSPORT (15 September, 10.40am).
Is there a finer pair of attacking midfielders anywhere in the Championship?
When Chris Willock and Ilias Chair are on song and harmonising, QPR are capable of the most beautiful music. The former certainly had Millwall dancing to his tune in midweek, collecting a Chair pass on the half-turn and almost instinctively slotting the ball into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the penalty area.
Suddenly, 0-0 became 1-0. One point became three; Johansen himself doubling the lead with 20 minutes remaining.
“A bit of magic from Chris in the second half opens the game up; a wonderful goal,” smiles the Queens Park Rangers skipper.
“You can see his quality. He’s getting fitter and fitter. He had a bad injury last season, you know? I think he was out for six months or so. So he’s still getting back that sharpness and fitness. But you can see what he brings to the team.
“He’s an incredible talent. If he stills humble and works hard, he can go to the next level. We’re going to help him try and do that at QPR.”
Former Arsenal youngster Chris Willock blossoming at Queens Park Rangers
Chris Willock, older brother of Newcastle’s Joe, left Arsenal on a free transfer in 2017 for a short-lived spell at Benfica, before returning to English soil with Huddersfield Town. But don’t let the nature of his departure fool you; the Gunners certainly saw something special in the Waltham Forest-born playmaker. Arsene Wenger himself once labelled a teenage-Willock a ‘very gifted player with natural strength and natural talent’.
It was very much the player’s decision – rather than Arsenal’s – to let his contract run down at the Emirates Stadium.
“He is in fantastic form at the minute,” QPR boss Mick Beale told the Kilburn Times after Willock’s superb strike at Millwall lifted the Londoners to within one point of third-place in the Championship table.
“He is an excellent player. You look at his CV, we know we’re fortunate to have him at QPR. I think he can play at the next level. He just has to make little adjustments.
“It’s a wonderful goal but it would be wrong to not keep my foot on the accelerator with him in terms of demands.”
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