The Premier League's rarest kit can be purchased today

Tom Weber

• Updated: 9 Dec 2025 13:20 CST
• 3 min read

News

In 2013, Peter Odemwingie was the protagonist of one of the most iconic events in Premier League history. Today, QPR will auction his only existing kit.

QPR were promoted to the Premier League in 2011 and purchased by Malaysian billionaire Tony Fernandes shortly thereafter. His arrival enabled the club to go on a €26 million spending spree, which seems modest compared to the fees splashed today.

At the time, though, this allowed the London club to sign some high-profile players like Bobby Zamora, Djibril Cisse and Shaun Wright-Phillips. QPR managed to stay up by the skin of their teeth and again splashed the cash the following summer.

However, a disappointing start to the season led to the sacking of manager Mark Hughes, who was replaced by Harry Redknapp, and a desperate scramble to rectify the situation in the January window.

Another €25m was spent mid-season, but QPR infamously failed to secure a Deadline Day deal for Peter Odemwingie, the now-retired former Nigeria international who had become a fairly reliable Premier League goalscorer for West Brom.

Odemwingie's iconic failed transfer

After several rejected bids, QPR thought that they had wrapped up a deal with the Baggies for a fee in the region of £3m, only for the discussions to come to a halt when West Brom reportedly demanded winger Junior Hoilett in return.

Odemwingie had driven down QPR's Loftus Road in a bid to speed up the process, which resulted in the iconic image of the attacker speaking to the press about how excited he was for his new chapter with QPR and how confident he was that they would stave off relegation together.

However, the Nigerian was ultimately left stranded in his car after being refused entry to the premises due to the transfer collapsing. QPR insisted that they could not speak to Odemwingie at all without first reaching a deal with West Brom that never materialised.

"I think he probably felt that the deal had been agreed between the clubs, and it was all a bit of a mix-up," Redknapp told Sky Sports shortly after the incident. "I feel sorry for the lad and the way the whole thing's turned out."

West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace later explained: "The only way we would have considered letting Peter leave was if an acceptable offer was forthcoming and if we had found a suitable replacement at relatively short notice. Neither materialised and, in the end, the matter became a point of principle as much as anything."

While Odemwingie had tried to be respectful of West Brom during his infamous car interview, he struck a much harsher tone a few days later. "First it was money, then it was a player in exchange and then they didn't have time to find a replacement," he grumbled.

Without Odemwingie, QPR finished bottom of the league and suffered relegation. Although they bounced back at the first time of asking, they went straight back down again in 2014/15 and haven't returned since.

QPR to auction Odemwingie kit

Today, Wednesday, QPR will auction the only existing Odemwingie kit, according to Sky Sports. The club's head of retail, Francis Atkinson, prepared the shirt for the forward's presentation in 2013.

Of course, it ended up never being used, with the Nigerian forced to remain at West Brom. QPR did not revisit the deal in the summer, and he instead joined Cardiff. After stints with Stoke, Bristol City, Rotherham and Indonesian side Madura United, Odemwingie retired in 2019.

Odemwingie's unused QPR kit is easily one of the rarest shirts in Premier League history and has an iconic backstory. The auction will take place at 4 pm UK time.

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