Exclusive: Preston Pull Plug on Milutin Osmajić as Shortlist of Replacement Strikers Emerges

Preston North End are ready to pull the plug on Milutin Osmajić after the striker’s latest red-card disgrace finally exhausted the patience of the Deepdale hierarchy, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.

The Montenegrin frontman has become one of the Championship’s most notorious bad boys and his latest dismissal has convinced the Lilywhites that enough is enough.

Osmajic, signed in the summer of 2023 for around £1.5million, was meant to be the snarling spearhead to fire Preston into the Premier League play-off picture. 

Instead, he has become a walking disciplinary timebomb.

His reckless red card in Tuesday night’s bruising 3-0 defeat to Hull City was his third major misdemeanour in less than 18 months, following bans for biting Blackburn’s Owen Beck and alleged racial abuse of Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri.

In total, Osmajic has now racked up 20 games suspended across those incidents – a staggering figure for a player who has managed just 22 goals in over 82 Championship appearances for the Lancashire club.

LOST FAITH

And now Lilywhites boss Paul Heckingbottom is understood to have finally lost faith in the combustible striker’s ability to keep his cool, with sources saying the club are now actively looking to offload him in the current window.

Heckingbottom branded Osmajic’s bizarre behaviour as “totally unacceptable” and our sources understand it’s the third and final strike for the experienced 26-year-old Montenegro international.

That has sparked an urgent hunt for a new No.9 as North End try to rescue their play-off push.

Top of the list is Barnsley hotshot Davis Keillor-Dunn, one of League One’s most lethal finishers this season, whose power and work-rate have caught the eye across the Championship.

Also under serious consideration is Portsmouth forward Callum Lang, a proven scorer with pedigree at Wigan, Oldham and Morecambe, who would welcome a return to the North West after rebuilding his career on the south coast.

Blackpool’s in-form Ashley Fletcher is another name being discussed behind the scenes after exploding into life under Ian Evatt with a stunning 15 goals in his last 18 games. 

But fierce Fylde Coast rivalry could make that deal a political nightmare.

ADMIRERS

Meanwhile, Wrexham striker Ryan Hardie has also been linked, with Preston admirers believing his Championship experience and movement could offer a more reliable option than Osmajic’s chaos-fuelled cameos.

Heckingbottom had hoped Osmajic’s snarling edge could be tamed into a winning mentality, but the opposite has happened and his stupid headbutt against Hull has proven to be the final straw in yet another frustrating Deepdale chapter.

Since his arrival, Preston have endured constant disruption, suspensions and unwanted headlines, with dressing-room stability repeatedly undermined by his antics.

Now the message from Deepdale is clear, Preston want goals and not grievances.

And as Osmajic’s Preston career teeters on the brink, the Lilywhites are ready to bet their promotion dream on a striker who can control his temper and score the goals they crave to have a shot at a realistic Premier League promotion push.