On Tuesday evening, Mark Warburton dropped Bright Osayi-Samuel from his squad for QPR’s trip to Barnsley.
The R’s went on to lose 3-0 without one of their star men, and his absence should pique the interest of two other clubs.
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Back at the start of September, The Scottish Sun reported that Celtic were eyeing the £5m-rated Nigerian winger, who is out of contract at the Kiyan Price Foundation stadium in June.
That same report mentions that Crystal Palace are keen, and have been tracking the R’s forward for a year.
As a result of his contract situation, Osayi-Samuel can sign a pre-contract agreement with another club in January, something that presumably could happen after Warburton left him out of his squad on Tuesday.
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Just to clarify, the 22-year-old’s absence wasn’t down to injury or suspension.
Warburton even mentioned after the defeat that Osayi-Samuel’s exclusion was down to his stalling contract talks.
The ex-Rangers boss told the club’s official website: ‘Contract talks with Bright have been ongoing for a while now. He’s a great lad, everyone knows what I think of him, but his head has to be in the right place for a game of football and I just felt that tonight it wasn’t right for Bright and for the team as well.’
If the Okija-born attacker is heading for an exit, Celtic or Palace could land themselves a promising player on the cheap.
Osayi-Samuel impressed for QPR last season with six goals and nine assists in all competitions, where he and Palace new boy Eberechi Eze terrorised defences.