His move from Queens Park Rangers to Fenerbache during the January transfer window was with high expectation but an injury he sustained cut short his dream as his playing time was reduced. Bright Osayi-Samuel is now hoping for a return to UK with Scottish bitter rivals-Rangers and Celtic setting to pounce
If reports coming out of Turkey is anything to go by, Nigerian-born winger may be dumping Turkish side Fenerbache, though he is still undecided between joining Glasgow Rangers or Celtic.
According to Turkish sports daily, Fanatik, Osayi-Samuel is undecided over his future at Fenerbahce ahead of the forthcoming season.
The former Queens Park Rangers dazzler is having a hard time choosing whether to accept an offer from Scottish Premiership champions Glasgow Rangers or their bitter rivals Celtic.
Osayi-Samuel transferred to Fenerbahce in the winter transfer market but things have not gone as planned, with the player scoring just once in 19 appearances across all competitions.
Towards the end of the season, the 23-year-old lost his place in the starting lineup, starting only one of the last eight games played by the Yellow Canaries in the division.
The Anglo-Nigerian has not been helped by fitness issues, with an ankle injury ruling him out of the home game against Kasimpsa.
Osayi-Samuel is worried about not getting playing opportunities next season should he remain at Fenerbahce.
Fenerbahce are willing to sell Osayi-Samuel and some fringe players to boost their transfer kitty.
Meanwhile, Rangers are once again set to miss out on Osayi-Samuel, according to Football Insider.
The report suggests the Scottish champions have approached Turkish giants Fenerbahce over a potential move for the 23-year-old, having missed out on his services when he initially left Queen Park Rangers.
However, the Istanbul club are believed to have indicated that they had no interest in selling the player this summer.
Given Rangers are thought to have attempted to sign him twice, it seems reasonably fair to assume Osayi-Samuel is highly thought of by those at Ibrox.
Predominantly a right-winger, the former Blackpool youngster could well have offered Steven Gerrard more competition on that flank amid suggestions Ianis Hagi could leave the club this summer.
Since moving to Turkey, the forward has undoubtedly struggled.
According to WhoScored data, he averages far fewer shots per game (0.7 to 1.3) than he did in the Championship during the first half of the season, as well as fewer key passes (0.6 to 1).
Clearly, it’s hard to be too critical of that considering this is a young player adapting to a new league and, with all due respect to the Scottish Premiership, there is an argument to suggest the Turkish Super Lig is of a higher quality.
With that in mind, perhaps judging Osayi-Samuel solely on what he’s done for Fenerbahce would be slightly unfair.
With Hagi linked away, it does look like an area in which the club could strengthen.
While Rangers don’t exactly struggle for firepower, Joe Aribo is the only other recognised option there and, without Hagi, Gerrard would lose his most prolific source of assists.
To suggest the Scottish champions desperately need another winger would be a touch hyperbolic considering their success in the season just gone but, to build on their title win, it does look like an area in which they could do with investment.
Speaking on Sky Sports back in December, EFL pundit Don Goodman predicted a big future for the player.
“This fella, I think he will go to the next level,” he said.
“I don’t think I have a shadow of a doubt that he will go to the next level.”
Confusion surrounds the origin of claims in a Turkish report which suggests Super Lig giants Fenerbahce are not interested in selling at Rangers current offer for Bright Osayi-Samuel.
Urfa Degisim claim that the Turkish giants “did not look forward to selling Osayi-Samuel with its offer” but suggested “an agreement could be reached on the rental formula.”
Whilst the translation is unidiomatic, the outlet appears to believe that Fenerbahce have knocked back Rangers’ approach at the current price but would be open to a loan-to-buy deal.
However, the confusion comes when the report claims that this has been made clear in Scottish reports despite the origins of the links coming from Turkey.
Reports surrounding apparent Rangers interest in Osayi-Samuel intensified this week after a leading Turkish journalist claimed the Gers had made an offer for the player.
Yagiz Sabuncuoglu has claimed that the Gers had made an official approach for the player and Fenerbahce coach Emre Belözolu will now decide the player’s future.
The 23-year-old ex-QPR forward was linked to Rangers in January but would sign a pre-contract deal with Fener the same month before the move was made permanent not long after.
Fotospor have also previously credited the Gers with an interest and claimed Osayi-Samuel wants a return to the UK with Fenerbahce looking for around £3m (€3.5m) for the player.
Osayi-Samuel was managed by ex-Gers manager Mark Warburton at QPR, with the former Ibrox gaffer admitting he didn’t want the player to leave Loftus Road.
“I think I made my thoughts clear in that I thought Bright would have benefited enormously from another full season at QPR to get that consistency of performance and to keep on learning,” said Warburton.
“He’s a very young player with tremendous attributes in terms of pace and ability.
“But it’s a steep learning curve and, when you take these moves and he and his representatives are well aware of this – the pressure grows significantly. The spotlight on you intensifies significantly and you have to deliver.
“I always worry about young players because that learning and development is so important.
“Sometimes you can miss one or two lessons, which comes back to bite you further down the line.
“I hope very much it’s a good move for him and that we see him back in the UK at some stage at a really high level.
“But it’s a very, very tough learning curve – have no doubts about that.”
Rangers fans will be eager to get to the bottom of the claims as they continue to look forward to new signings ahead of the next campaign.
