London calling as Richard Dunne joins QPR on one-year deal

After confirming their interest in the Irish defender, Richard Dunne has officially been confirmed as a QPR player today.

A free agent after his contract with Aston Villa was up, the central defender has had a torrid 12 months with injuries and will hope to resurrect his career with the Championship outfit. The 33 year-old has signed an initial one-year deal at Loftus Road and will look to prove his fitness to Harry Redknapp as the club attempts to make it back to the top-flight at the first attempt. Redknapp has been in the hunt for a centre-back following the sale of Christopher Samba to Anzhi Makhachkala and Dunne seems to fit the bill. “He’s a top-class defender and a great guy. He’s a good character and just what we need,” the QPR boss said today. "He was Manchester City’s  Player of the Year four years running, and he will be fantastic at this football club." Redknapp also said how the club have taken precautions should Dunne's injury woes flare up again. "Obviously he had his problems last season with the injury but there's an agreement in place that if he breaks down, the contract can be ended. He's confident he'll be okay and from our point of view, if he doesn't have any problems with it then we've just signed a very, very good centre-half." The move will be music to the ears of Giovanni Trapattoni and all Irish fans and we wish Richard the very best in his new surroundings. Here is the first glimpse of Dunne with the blue and white hooped jersey.

DUNNE DEAL: Eire international Richard Dunne pens one-year deal #DunneDeal https://t.co/5eGUUJcekf — QPR FC (@OfficialQPR) July 15, 2013