Tariq Lamptey's football career has taken a new direction. The 25-year-old Ghana international, once one of the Premier League's most exciting full-backs, has signed for Queens Park Rangers in the Championship as he attempts to relaunch his career after a nightmare spell at Fiorentina.
The former Chelsea youngster moved to Brighton in 2020 and quickly impressed under Graham Potter. His performances attracted reported interest from Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, yet Wayne Rooney had a different destination in mind.
Rooney's recommendation for United
Writing in his Sunday Times column in 2020, Rooney suggested Manchester United should sign Lamptey to replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He said: "Personally, if I were doing their recruiting, as well as that No 9 I’d go for another centre half to partner Harry Maguire and try for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Tariq Lamptey, who looks a brilliant attacking right back."
Rooney explained his reasoning, adding: "While Aaron Wan-Bissaka has done OK defensively, you want United full backs to put the opposition on the back foot when the team have the ball and I don’t think he does that."
Cole's glowing verdict
United legend Andy Cole also believed Lamptey had a bright future. After watching him play, Cole said: "I watched him on Sunday against Newcastle and he was man of the match without even lasting the whole 90 minutes," said Cole. "He was up and down that right-hand side and I just said ‘Wow’. Then I just watched the Chelsea game as well and the difference between him and Reece James… I just couldn’t stop thinking that they let this kid go. Now, naturally, they had their reasons for letting him go but I think if it was £3m then that is a snip. This kid looks like he only wants to improve and he only wants to get better, he wants to go to the next level. So he looks like he has got a real bright future ahead of him."
Injury crisis derailed his progress
Unfortunately for Lamptey, injuries ruined that promising trajectory. He suffered nine different injuries in the last three years, which caused him to miss 90 matches.
His fitness problems led to his departure from Brighton and a move to Fiorentina. However, his full debut in Serie A lasted just 22 minutes before he suffered an ACL rupture. He had previously made a three-minute substitute appearance and never played for the club again. In May of this year, he terminated his contract with Fiorentina by mutual consent.
Now he will hope to rebuild his once-promising career with QPR in the Championship.
