MARK Hughes wants to make Samba Diakite's move to QPR permanent in the summer – even if they're relegated.
The midfielder has been a big hit since joining on loan from Nancy in January, despite being sent-off on his debut against Fulham.
However, the Mali international has cemented a spot in the R's engine room with a string of impressive displays.
Boss Hughes revealed Rangers have already agreed a fee believed to in the region of £3.5million with Nancy to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign.
And the Welshman has already seen enough of the 23-year-old to convince him to sign the player in the close season.
He told the Chronicle : “Everything's been agreed. There's a figure we have to pay if we want to make it permanent.
“I'm not going to go into details but we hope we'll be able to make it permanent because he's done very well.
“There's a number of factors, but we'd like to think he's enjoyed his time here so we wouldn't have thought there would be any hurdles in his way.
“He's done very well. The start was a little bit difficult for him but he's overcome that and learned from it very quickly. He's been outstanding.”
Diakite should return to the side for Sunday's crunch clash with Stoke after missing last weekend's derby drubbing at Chelsea with a virus.
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