Redknapp, who branded the Moroccan a “fruitcake” last year, sold Taarabt to QPR from Tottenham in August 2010 after the 23-year-old had impressed on two loan spells at Loftus Road.

Following reports that Manchester United were preparing a £12m bid in January, the new QPR said he is looking forward to working with Taarabt again, a player he insists he had wanted to keep.

“He was alright with me, Adel,” Redknapp told reporters. “I think he has improved. His attitude is good and he has got bags of ability.

“I wouldn’t have let him go, in all honesty. I said that at the time. I would have kept him at Tottenham.

“It was just he couldn’t get into the side and the chairman decided if he wasn’t going to play, we might as well sell him and get a big sell-on if he made a success at QPR.

“That’s why I let him go. I would have kept him around because I always felt he was a player you could bring off the bench and he could change a game for you. But Adel is okay.

“He’s got a part to play for us, for sure.”

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