Report: Celtic want to sign £5m assist machine, Mark Warburton hailed ‘blistering pace’

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Celtic have joined Crystal Palace in the race to sign £5 million-rated winger Bright Osayi-Samuel from Queens Park Rangers this summer, according to the Daily Mail.

So far this summer the Scottish Premiership champions have reinforced four key positions in Neil Lennon’s squad, landing Albian Ajeti, Shane Duffy, David Turnbull and replacing Fraser Forster with £6 million Greek goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas.

But there’s still time for Celtic to add some extra quality to their title-winning squad as they prepare to play catch-up to a Rangers side that has cruised into a six-point lead at the top of the table – albeit having played two games more.

A player such as Osayi-Samuel is hardly a ‘must’ for a Celtic team that already has the best right-winger in Scotland in its ranks – James Forrest – but the QPR speed machine would give Lennon depth out wide, not to mention a fearsome option off the bench.

“I’m not sure many teams have that blistering pace,” former Rangers boss Mark Warburton said of his Loftus Road flyer after he inspired a 6-1 thrashing of Cardiff City. “As long as he knows how to use it – and that’s the key for him learning the game,” he told the Brent and Kilburn Times.

“He is working so hard. He has got that sheer pace that terrifies defenders and, when he uses it wisely, he looks a real handful.”

Osayi-Samuel produced six goals and nine assists in 2019/20, while scoring a sensational solo effort against Birmingham that would have had a young Ryan Giggs showing off his copious amount of chest hair.

But, with only a year remaining on his contract, QPR may be forced to cash in for fear of losing a prized asset for nothing.

The Londoners had accepted a near £5 million bid from Club Brugge only for Osayi-Samuel to reject a move to Belgium.