West Bromwich Albion could reportedly raid Championship rivals QPR for Bright Osayi-Samuel – and Ebere Eze may be Premier League bound with Spurs.
Queens Park Rangers need to be ‘realistic’ about the futures of West Brom and Tottenham targets Bright Osayi-Samuel and Ebere Eze, first-team coach Neil Banfield has admitted to West London Sport.
Unless Mark Warburton’s rather erratic charges can put together an impressive run of form once the Championship resumes, it seems likely that QPR will be consigned to another season of second-tier football in 2020/21.
And even the most optimistic Loftus Road match-goer will know that holding onto two of England’s most exciting young attackers, without the lure of Premier League football, will be very difficult indeed.
“They’ve got really bright futures and I think they can definitely grace the Premier League,” Banfield says of Eze and Osayi-Samuel, who have contributed 18 goals and 16 assists between them during the current campaign.
“Obviously we don’t want them to leave but I think you’ve got to be realistic. The real world is that if a club comes in now with loads of money then those lads have got to go. It’s just a fact of life.
“If the offers come in of £20m and £20m-plus, I don’t think there would be many clubs that could turn that down.”
The Sun reported last week that Tottenham are leading London rivals Crystal Palace in the race for the £20 million-rated Eze, an attacking midfielder with dazzling potential who could follow in the footsteps of another Football League graduate in Dele Alli.
West Brom, meanwhile, have made the jet-heeled winger Osayi-Samuel their top, £8 million target should The Baggies earn promotion to the Premier League in the final few weeks of a gruelling campaign (The Sun, 8 March, page 54).
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