Panathinaikos will have to wait at least until this summer before it can welcome back its former star striker Djibril Cisse, as the ex-French international has been loaned out by Queen's Park Rangers to Qatari club Al-Arabi until the end of the season.

Reports on Wednesday suggested that the 31-year-old forward informed Panathinaikos president Yiannis Alafouzos that Al-Arabi has paid 500,000 euros to the London club that owns Cisse and acquired his services for the next few months.

Panathinaikos was planning to borrow Cisse from QPR for free, only by paying his wages for the rest of his contract until the summer, but QPR was eager to cash in on the Frenchman in order to fund the acquisition of Loic Remy, its new signing from Marseille.

Nevertheless, Cisse reportedly told Alafouzos that he remains eager to return to Panathinaikos saying «we'll talk about it again in May».