New Fulham signing Lee Cook revealed today he has donated £250,000 to
his former club Queens Park Rangers to help steer them through their
financial troubles.
Cook — one of eight players to join Lawrie Sanchez's Craven Cottage
revolution this summer — decided to give the sum, which equates to 10
per cent of his £2.5million transfer fee, when he left Loftus Road
last month.
"Rangers are struggling for money and, as everyone knows, I'm a
boyhood Rangers fan," explained Cook.
"The club were saying that not enough money had been paid for me. I
said, 'I'll give you 10 per cent of the sale'.
"It was totally my decision — there was no pressure from anyone. The
transfer had been agreed but I love Rangers and I don't want to see
them hard up."
Even allowing for the leap in Cook's wages from £4,000-a-week to
£18,000-aweek following his move, it is a gesture that will be hugely
appreciated by all those at Loftus Road and challenges the assumption
that all Premier League footballers are mercenaries.
Cook admits the off-field controversies during his three years at QPR
was unsettling for the players.
He said: "Whenever you picked up the paper there was something bad
going on a QPR, whether it was the fight against the Chinese or the
financial problems. I've heard [chairman] Gianni Paladini saying there
are new investors coming. If they are, hopefully everything will be
sorted out.
"At times it was difficult. When you are a player, you just want to
play football. But it goes through your mind the club might go into
administration and that you might not get paid next month.
"But to be fair to the club, they never asked us to take a wage cut
and our wages were always paid on the first day of every month."
The 24-year-old recognises he has joined a whole new world at Fulham,
where chairman Mohammed Fayed has reversed his trend of recent seasons
by allowing new manager Sanchez to spend heavily in the transfer
market.
"I heard Lawrie wanted me in April or May and, then it was just a
matter of the clubs agreeing a deal," said Cook.
"A couple of northern Premiership clubs were also interested but to be
honest it was an easy decision. My family are all from the local area
and I didn't want to uproot them and my fiancee by moving up north.
"These are exciting times at Fulham. They had a strong squad but they
have spent more than £20million in the summer, which shows the
ambition.
"To be honest, the money that has been spent this summer has been
outrageous. Your Manchester Uniteds and Liverpools will always spend
£50m but when you see clubs like West Ham spending fortunes as well,
it shows how desperate everyone is not to go down. The clubs have the
extra TV money this year and it has had a massive effect."
Like most of the new Fulham players, Cook will have to make the leap
from the Championship to the top tier but, as an orthodox left-winger,
he believes he offers something different.
"There aren't that many English leftwingers around," he said. "My game
is all about attacking defenders and putting in crosses.
"In the last three seasons, I provided 47 assists — 18 last season and
14 and 15 in the previous years — which was more than anyone else in
the division. I have done it consistently and I'm not worried that I
can't make the step up."
Cook is unlikely to make Fulham's first game — Sunday's visit to
Arsenal — as Friday's 2-1 defeat at QPR was his first outing since
sustaining a knee injury at the end of last season.
"I was out for three months so I have missed a lot of pre-season," he
said. "I'm a month behind some of the players but I've been training
hard the last couple of weeks. Arsenal might be a bit soon, although I
hope I can be involved."
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