West Bromwich Albion could make a last-gasp swoop for Queens Park Rangers winger Bright Osayi-Samuel as he closes in on a £5 million move to Club Brugge, according to The Sun (26 July, page 64).
The champions of Belgium might have had a bid accepted for one of the fastest players in England’s second tier, but that does not mean the former Blackpool starlet is destined to play Champions League football in 2020/21.
As West London Sport pointed out last week, Osayi-Samuel has some doubts about moving to Brugge despite, to quote a raging Ralph Fiennes, ‘all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful ******* fairytale stuff’.
And he is not short of alternative offers either.
West Brom have been watching and admiring Osayi-Samuel since January.
And, now that the Baggies have boinged their way back into the Premier League after securing automatic promotion in a ‘fairytale’ of their own, The Sun suggests that an eleventh hour bid could be on the cards.
Burnley could also offer the jet-heeled 22-year-old a chance in the top-flight, though Bournemouth’s hopes have surely been hit hard by their heartbreaking relegation on Sunday.
Brentford are another of Osayi-Samuel’s suitors. But after a 1-0 first-leg defeat to Swansea City in the play-offs, the Bees are just 90 minutes away from joining Bournemouth in the Championship next season.
“I’m not sure many teams have that blistering pace. As long as he knows how to use it and that’s the key for him learning the game,” QPR boss Mark Warburton told the Kilburn Times in January after Osayi-Samuel inspired a 6-1 thrashing of Cardiff City.
“He’s working so hard. He’s got that sheer pace which terrifies defenders and when he uses it wisely like he did today he looks a real handful.”
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