Bright Osayi-Samuel’s exit from Turkish side Fenerbahçe may have sparked fresh transfer headlines, but behind the career move is an emotional story that started long before Europe’s spotlight found him, Footynaija.com reports.
On Tuesday, during the final of the Bright Osayi U-13 Football Tournament at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, his mother, Mrs Oredola Samuel, shared one of the defining moments of her son’s early football journey.
Speaking to reporters, she recalled a time when she tried to stop a young Bright from playing football simply because he often returned home late after training.
Between the ages of 10 and 13, Bright trained religiously, even though he had never joined a formal academy. But his late-night routines troubled his mother, who responded by pouring buckets of water on him more than once and even throwing away his football in frustration.
“I was never against him playing football,” she said, as reported by Daily Post Nigeria. “My only problem was how late he came back. He just would not listen.”
But the turning point came the night she flung his football away, thinking it would send a stronger message. What followed caught her off guard.
“Bright looked at me and said, ‘Mummy, you just threw away my future.’ That shook me,” she admitted.
“It was the first time he ever said something like that to me. I could not sleep. Around 3am, I went outside, picked the ball, brought it back to him, and said, ‘I’ve brought your future.’”
More than a decade later, that act has come full circle. Osayi-Samuel now boasts over 20 caps for the Super Eagles and recently confirmed his exit from Fenerbahçe after four-and-a-half seasons at the Turkish club.
As revealed in the report, his mother expressed gratitude that she gave him another chance that night.
“Imagine if I had not returned that ball that night… maybe we would not be here today,” she said with pride.