Super Eagles and Birmingham City full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel has opened up on his failed move to Besiktas from Fenerbahce, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 27-year-old joined the Blues on a free deal after spending four years in Turkey. Prior to joining the EFL Championship side, he was linked with a move to Besiktas, but the move fell through after rumours surfaced that his father was asking for more money.
Osayi has come out to quell the rumours, claiming they spread because the people at the club wanted to put a dent on his name.
“I played four years at Fenerbahce, and they did a lot for me, so it was impossible for me to go, but then they made an article saying my dad was asking for too much money, and that’s just the Turkish way,” the former QPR defender said in quotes revealed by Birmingham Mail.
“The Turkish media, I’ve had a lot of issues with them. Maybe they are picking on me or something.
“There was interest from Besiktas, which is the rival of my team, and they wanted to sign me and spoke to my agent, but I never had interest in going there.”
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The Super Eagles star has no plans to weep over spilt milk, and is already enjoying life as a Birmingham player while remaining grateful for his Turkey experience.
“I had no interest in going there [Besiktas], and when I heard about Birmingham, I wanted to come here,” Osayi continued.
“It was a good and bad experience. It would have been better if we had won the championship[in Turkey], but overall, for me, it was a learning curve. I went there as a boy, and they turned me into a man.
“The derbies were quite hectic. If we do play big games here, I will know how to deal with the pressure.”
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“The minute I heard there was interest from Birmingham, I started watching clips of the club in League One. I could see Ethan (Laird) was bombing forward, and sometimes he was playing as a winger for 90 minutes.
“When I saw that, I could see it’s a place I could play too. The whole thing just fitted for me.
“When I was speaking to my agent, I had interest from Birmingham and I was speaking to Gards quite a bit, but then I had a FaceTime call with him, Wagner and Tom Brady, and he didn’t feel like he had doubt or was unsure, his message was so clear: ‘We’re going to the Premier League’.
The way he said it, with the ambitions and the players he wanted to bring in, it was a no-brainer for me to come here,” the ex-Blackpool man concluded.
Birmingham appear keen on returning straight to the English Premier League after making statement signings, including the pursuit of former Everton and Watford winger, Demarai Gray, who grew up in the club’s academy.