Warburton on Rangers wide man ‘target’

Former Rangers manager Mark Warburton knows a thing or two about Bright Osayi-Samuel having managed the winger at QPR over the last couple of seasons.

Warburton made a plea to the Nigerian-born wide man to stay in west London for another season for the sake of his career, but his mind had been made up on a move to Istanbul to join Fenerbahce.

With Rangers again linked to a potential move – following Osayi-Samuel’s lack of progress so far in Turkey, Warburton stated in the aftermath of losing his man that he wanted to see him “back in the UK at some stage at a really high level”.

His comments came back in January, after the move to Fenerbahce was completed.

Former Ibrox boss Warburton told West London Sport that he did not want Osayi-Samuel 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.”

“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.”

Worry

Making the leap from the Championship and QPR to the cauldron of Turkish football and a massive stage was always going to pose a risk, a key concern of Warburton’s:

“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.”

It remains to be seen what happens next for Bright Osayi-Samuel, but a move – even on loan – back to Britain is a very viable possibility.