£10m midfielder Leeds United wanted under Marcelo Bielsa 'expected' to leave current club
One of Leeds United’s former transfer targets is attracting interest from their Championship rivals
Former Leeds United transfer target Lewis O’Brien is expected to be moved on from Nottingham Forest this summer, amid reported interest from the Whites’ Championship rivals Luton Town and Norwich City.
Sheffield United and Preston North End have also been previously linked with the former Huddersfield Town man, with Forest demanding £10m for his services last summer before he joined Middlesbrough on loan for the duration of the 2023-24 season. Leeds were briefly linked with O’Brien 12 months ago but it was back in the summer of 2021 that the Whites were heavily interested.
The Elland Road club, managed by Marcelo Bielsa at the time, saw a number of offers knocked back by the Terriers. O’Brien remained with Huddersfield as they reached the Championship play-off final, which they lost to Nottingham Forest. Later that summer the Terries sold O'Brien, along with his teammate Harry Toffolo, to Forest for just £10m - despite Leeds reportedly offering that amount for just O’Brien 12 months previous.
However, things have not gone to plan for O’Brien at the City Ground and Nottingham Live reports he is due to leave the club this summer. Just six months after his move to the club, he was considered surplus to requirements and after a loan spell to Blackburn Rovers fell through due to a late submission of paperwork in January 2023. He was left out of Forest’s 25-man squad for the rest of the season before moving to Major League Soccer side D.C. United in March 2023 as their transfer window remained open.
Last summer he was sent to Boro on loan but played just 25 times in all competitions after suffering an injury early into his spell at the Riverside Stadium. He underwent surgery and was out for five months after he ruptured Achilles.
Addressing his future earlier this year, O’Brien, who is under contract at Forest for another two years, said in April: "I don't have a clue, I'll have to see what happens in the summer. I've really enjoyed my time here [at Middlesbrough] and the time I've been playing. If it's the right time and the right things fall in place, I'd obviously love to come back here."
He added of his time out with injury: "It was the first proper injury I've had in my career that kept me out on the sidelines for a while. It was tough but I did all my rehab up here with Boro. It was nice to be around the lads. They've given me a lot of support through everything, through the whole time.
"I still did the rehab here because I knew I'd be back before the end of the season but I didn't know how many games I'd play. Like I said, it's a bit unfortunate there was only three or four games left when I started getting into my full stride and really understanding how Michael Carrick wants me to play.”
Luton and Norwich are the latest Championship sides credited with interest, with the pair both expected to be challenging at the top end of the table in the coming season. Leeds are among the favourites for automatic promotion, with the Hatters also eyeing a top two spot following relegation from the Premier League. Norwich will be hoping to at least match last campaign’s play-off finish, as they lost their semi-final to Leeds.