Kwame Poku – What to expect

Kwame Poku – What to expect

According to recent reports, QPR are somehow set to complete the signing of Kwame Poku from Peterborough. Despite Poku being one of if not the most in demand player in the championship and seemingly being set to join Glasgow Rangers, QPR have managed to secure his signature. Poku is certainly an impressive signing and in this piece I’ve had a look at what can we expect to see from him in a QPR shirt.

Profile

Age: 23

Nationality: Ghanaian

Positions: Right Winger, Number 10

Height: 5ft 10

Preferred foot: Left

Career So Far

Kwame Poku, born in Croydon in 2001, began his football journey in non-league with Cray Wanderers before moving to Worthing in 2019, where his performances quickly attracted attention. Later that year, he signed for Colchester United, making the jump to professional football. At Colchester, he made 62 league appearances over two seasons, scoring 5 goals and earning a call-up to the Ghana national team in 2021. In August 2021, he joined Peterborough United. His first season in the Championship saw limited impact, with just 1 goal and 2 assists in 28 appearances. However, upon Peterborough’s relegation to League One, Poku improved year on year: in 2022/23, he contributed 4 goals and 5 assists; in 2023/24, he stepped up with 10 goals and 6 assists; and in the 2024/25 season, despite missing large chunks of the season through injury, he registered 12 goals and 8 assists in only 27 league matches. Across his four years at Peterborough, his goal involvements have risen steadily – 3, 9, 16, and then 20 – demonstrating consistent development and increasing influence in attack. Poku played a key role in Peterborough’s back to back EFL trophy wins and has been a standout player in league one this season, resulting in him winning many individual accolades including: back to back League One player of the month awards, a place in the League one Team of the Season and Peterborough’s players’ player of the year. This leads us to the current day where QPR have agreed compensation with Peterborough to sign Poku upon the expiration of his contract.

In Possession

I could write pages about Poku in possession and just how technically gifted he is but I’ll try to keep it brief for the sake of everyone reading. Poku is excellent 1v1 and has been one of if not the best 1v1 dribbler in League One over the last few seasons. The stats definitely back this up, with Poku averaging 2.27 successful dribbles per 90 last season, putting him in the top 5% of all League One wingers. The ball seems to be glued to his foot when he dribbles and he seems to be able to beat players at ease. In terms of his dribbling style Poku loves to use chops to twist the defender inside out and in turn be unpredictable on the ball. Generally, Poku prefers to drift inside or cut inside onto his left foot to deliver a shot or a cross however he is more than capable of going down the outside too. It does have to be said that Poku can perhaps be reluctant to use his right foot at times, so what you often see him do would be going outside the defender then dropping a shoulder, using a body faint or some form of disguise to cut back inside, usually selling the defender and getting that half a yard to deliver some end product with his left foot. This movement is something that Poku does consistently but it is extremely effective as he sells the defender for the vast majority of the times he attempts it.

First example of Poku going outside then cutting inside to deliver a cross.

Second example of Poku going outside then cutting inside to deliver a cross.

Poku does go down the outside on some occasions to deliver a cross on his right foot all be it not something he does as much as cutting inside. I would like to see Poku go down and stay down the outside more often as not only would it could help take his game to that next level with higher levels of unpredictability but he’s also capable of doing it.

In terms of his final product, it’s obviously been very impressive in League one, consistently hitting good levels of output and improving year upon year. Last season it was particularly impressive netting 12 goals and 8 assists in just 25 starts, putting him in the top 4% of League One forwards for goals per 90 and the top 3% of league one forwards for assists per 90. The underlying numbers are good too with Poku averaging 1.44 chances created per 90 and 0.23 xA (expected assists) per 90, putting him in the top 5% of forwards in League one for this metric. A particular action which Poku likes after cutting inside would be delivering deep crosses to the back post on his favoured left foot. Going outside then cutting inside (as I touched upon earlier) to deliver a deep cross to the back post has almost become Poku’s trademark action in recent years. Long story short, Ilias Chair and Rayan Kolli – make those runs to the back post when Poku has the ball on the right edge of the box in these positions.

Example of Poku cutting inside on his left foot and delivering a deep cross to the back post.

When he does stay down the outside and delivers on his right, the end product is still good however unsurprisingly not as consistent. In these scenarios, Poku often chooses to take the ball to the byline and either fizz a low ball in or float one over to the back post. Furthermore, his pass selection and decision making on the ball is usually good. Poku is able to get his head up and play nicely waited through balls in behind for his teammates to run on to. In fact, he averaged 0.22 through balls per 90, a stat that is only topped by Karamoko Dembele (0.30) in the QPR squad but is miles clear of anyone else with Ilias Chair and Nicholas Madsen coming in 2nd and 3rd place behind Dembele in the QPR squad with 0.11 and 0.10 respectively.

In terms of his finishing, he has scored a variety of goals for Peterborough, ranging from headers to cutbacks to curlers from the edge of the box but has also shown he’s a capable finisher with both feet. However, again with his finishing, Poku becomes dangerous when he gets the ball onto his left foot, usually aiming to curl it into the far corner but sometimes looking to score at the near post. Poku has the desirable trait of being able to find half a yard by cutting inside onto his left foot, and bending the ball into the far corner.

Example of one of Poku’s goals where he cuts insides and bends the ball into the bottom left hand corner

In conclusion Poku is an exciting player to watch on the ball. He is so confident with the ball at his feet and is always looking to create moments of magic whether it be a shot, cross or dribble and is definitely a player who I am looking forwards to watching at Loftus Road next season.

Out of Possession and Movement

Starting off with his movement, Poku loves to receive the ball to feet. Poku is a player who will demand the ball whether it be taking up positions out wide or in that right half space and is capable of receiving on the half turn. At times, Poku has made runs in behind however usually he prefers to receive the ball to feet and create openings through himself so running in behind is something I’d like to see Poku to do a little more as he is capable of doing it. Poku also enjoyed strong relationships with the other Posh attackers, particularly Ephron Mason-Clark and this season Malik Mothersille and Ricky Jade Jones. Poku is not one to stand and admire his pass. He often releases the ball and then immediately makes a new run to offer himself for a return pass and loves to link up in and around the box, often playing clever one twos to try and break down the defence. When the ball is on the other flank, Poku has been seen making runs attacking the back post but also coming inside and making himself available for the cut back or even darting towards the near post at times, showing he has a nice variety of box movement.

Kwame Poku’s 24/25 Season heatmap

In terms of Poku out of possession and defensive work, Poku is actually quite tenacious in the tackle and not terrible in duels, especially in regard to his position and style of play. However he is quite weak in the air and will rarely be successful in aerial duels. He won’t be the workhorse defensively like someone like Paul Smyth would be but he won’t be as ineffective out of possession as someone like Yang Min Hyeok was but if I was Jimmy Dunne next season, I wouldn’t be banking on or relying on Poku to consistently track back and do the defensive work.

Physical

I would generally describe Poku as being a quick player but I wouldn’t go as far to say that he has blistering pace. What he does have however is really impressive acceleration and a quick turn of pace which allows him to burst past defenders in the first 10–15 yards. Being 5ft 10, Poku is a bit taller than our other options in his positions and is definitely not as easy to brush off the ball compared to someone like Karamoko Dembele. Poku isn’t someone who will dominate physical duels but what he can do is cleverly position his body to shield the ball or draw fouls. Poku isn’t overly strong but does has enough strength about him to be able to hold off defenders at times. That being said, this is definitely an area which could be developed more and is something I’m sure QPR will work on him with. For example, we saw how QPR really looked to target and improve the upper body strength of Chris Willock and Bright Osayi-Samuel when they were here, making them much harder to brush off the ball – could this be something we do again with Poku?

How could he fit in?

In terms of where Poku will play the most minutes for QPR, I think it’s a lot less ambiguous and more obvious than what Amadou Mbengue was. Despite being capable of playing as a number ten, I think it’s quite clear that Poku will play the majority of his minutes as a right winger. This is not only because QPR have a lot of options in the number 10 position already and not that many on the right wing, but also because Poku’s skill set means that I actually think that he is better suited off the right wing. As touched upon in my Mbengue piece, I’m not entirely sure which system we will end up playing next year, however I imagine it will be a variation of 4-3-3 with wingers rather than Stephan’s 3–5–2 which didn’t have wingers due to Nourry’s “game model” but also the fact that west london sport recently stated we’re looking to stock up in the wide areas. Nevertheless I’ve included a few options below:

Option one: Poku as a right winger

This would be the most likely role that Kwame Poku would play for QPR. Poku here is on the right wing in a 4–2–3–1 as shown in the image on the left. The image on the right shows QPR shifting to the increasingly common 3–2–4–1 when in possession, with the left back (likely Ziyad Larkeche or Esquerdinha out of the options in the current squad) getting forwards to provide width as almost the left winger. The image also shows the right back inverting to form a back three in possession, a role that would suit Jimmy Dunne and Amadou Mbengue but also the left winger (likely Rayan Kolli or Ilias Chair) rolling inside to take up one of those number ten positions. Poku’s role in this system would be remaining on the right wing. If this does happen, we could see Poku form a strong connection with the right number ten (which would likely be Karamoko Dembele, Harvey Vale or Ilias Chair) as we know he enjoys link up play and interchanging passes with his fellow attackers – could Ilias Chair have found his new mate? Conveniently, the role Kwame Poku played the most of his minutes in for Peterborough was at right wing in a 4–2–3–1 showing that using him in this was at QPR would just make sense.

Option two: Poku as a number 10 in a back 4

The formation and tactical set up here is identical to what it was in option one, with the only difference being Kwame Poku being a number ten rather than a right winger. In possession, Poku would take up one of the number ten roles, specifically the right ten, and we would look to try and feed him in those half spaces so he can receive on the half turn. This role would also allow him to link up nicely and build a strong bond with the other number ten, which would again likely be Ilias Chair, Harvey Vale or Karamoko Dembele. As I’ve already stated, I doubt we will see Kwame Poku playing as the number ten often so this option is probably less likely than option one.

Option three: Poku as a number 10 in a back 3

For this option I’ve used a 3–4–3, something we often saw under Mark Warburton with Chair and Willock occupying the two number ten positions. Interestingly, this system was something that new assistant head coach Alou Diarra used when he was coaching at youth level so, all be it being unlikely, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this is a system we see used next season, especially given Julien Stephan’s tactical flexibility. In this formation, Poku would again be playing as a right number ten and would be tasked with similar duties as to what he was in option two. As I’ve previously, I don’t think this is the most likely way in which Kwame Poku will be used at QPR.

Verdict and Conlusion

It’s hard not to be excited by this signing and QPR’s start to the summer in general. New contracts for key players like Sam Field, Jonathan Varane and Jimmy Dunne, a new manager with an impressive CV and a seemingly exciting pedigree and signing two of League One’s best players. Mbengue and Poku show that some lessons have been learnt from last summer in that not every signing can be a punt from abroad and that there’s so much upside to bringing in young players who both have significant EFL experience (with both of them having made over 100 EFL appearances). Focusing more on Poku, what makes the signing more impressive is that there were definitely teams out there offering him higher wages than us. Birmingham and Rangers were both strongly linked and you’d expect both of them to offer much higher wages than what we can provide. How we got him? I’m not too sure. I can presume that we made a big deal of some of the wingers new head coach Julien Stephan has coached in the past such has Raphinha, Dembele, Doku, Doue and Sarr or maybe we are just trying to be more ambitious and have high hopes for the season ahead. Either way I’m glad we’ve managed to sign Poku and it’s certainly a signing to get excited about. I’m sure that this is a signing which will excite Julien Stephan too. We know that Stephan likes to overload the box with crosses and Poku is a player who I’m sure can help him carry this out. In his first interview, Stephan expressed his desire for “brave” players – could this be something Kwame Poku can be? Barry Fry and Darragh MacAnthony have both gone on record to say that they think Poku has the potential to play in the Premier League, showing that should Poku have the right development here, we could be in a position to make a nice profit on him in a year or two’s time.

If you have made it this far, thank you very much for reading and I’d appreciate any feedback I could get. The club have been surprisingly busy early on this window, with it looking like a third signing in Kealey Adamson being on the verge of coming in. I hope to get something out on him soon so hopefully I will see you back here for my piece on him.

Until then, as always COYRS 🔵⚪️