Preston North End man attracting European interest as discussions ongoing over future
The striker has been with the Lilywhites since the summer of 2023
Preston North End are in open dialogue over striker Milutin Osmajic’s future.
The Montenegro international is entering the final 12 months of his contract, having scored 31 goals in 109 appearances since joining three summers ago. Osmajic cost PNE a reported £2.1million from Cadiz.
While his time at Deepdale has not been short of controversy - with 20 games missed across three suspensions - he is the premier centre-forward within Paul Heckingbottom’s squad, as things stand.
It’s believed that Italian duo Udinese and Genoa - both in Serie A - have made enquiries about Osmajic. After their promotion back to La Liga, interest is also thought to have been expressed by Deportivo La Coruna.
Open discussions are understood to be taking place around a potential contract extension for the 26-year-old, as well as the potential of a sale. Preston are open to cashing in if the right offer is made, though Osmajic is not thought to be pushing for an exit.
When asked a few months ago about the striker’s future, Heckingbottom stressed the importance of PNE getting on top of contract situations and not allowing players like Osmajic to walk away for free.
However, after the final game of the season the manager altered his tune slightly. The North End boss emphasised that the value in a sale has to be greater than the value of keeping Osmajic for the 2026/27 campaign.
He said: “It has to be the right money, 100 per cent. So, he either signs for the right money (or) gets sold for the right money. If not, we need the football value in the squad if we can't replace him.
“We just have to make a football decision if we can't replace him, and make sure that value is he's playing for us next season. Forget what people have bought him for; there's a value on players right now, an internal value.
“The moment that external value becomes greater than what his value is to us, they move. If no one meets that value to us because we can't replace him, or in the strikers’ case we think they're going to bring us goals and we can't get that, then they don't move.”