Journalist says 2021 Bielsa target can now leave PL side on loan, he’d still be ideal for Leeds – opinion

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Nottingham Forest have told former Leeds United target Lewis O’Brien he is free to join a Championship club on loan.

That is according to journalist Darren Witcoop, who reports Forest have blocked O’Brien from making the switch to fellow Premier League side Sheffield United.

Witcoop did add, however, the 24-year-old will still be allowed to leave on loan before the end of the window, with several Championship clubs keen.

O’Brien was a target for Leeds back in 2021 under Marcelo Bielsa when the Whites were on the hunt for a new central midfielder in the Premier League.

No move ever materialised for O’Brien, though, and he stayed at Huddersfield Town until joining Forest last summer, where things have not gone to plan for him.

Forest tell O’Brien he can leave for Championship on loan

Having started his first season at Forest as a regular under Steve Cooper, by January O’Brien had been unregistered from their Premier League squad as a result of their large number of signings.

After a loan switch to Blackburn Rovers failed to go through, he then joined Mateusz Klich’s DC United until July and is now back in England ready for another move.

Leeds remain in the market for at least two new midfielders this summer and having missed out on Gustavo Hamer, O’Brien would be the ideal box-to-box player for Daniel Farke’s system.

O’Brien has already proven what a good player at Championship level he is at Huddersfield, with his passing and ability to drive with the ball key components of his game.

Leeds really need someone to come in and take the work load off 17-year-old Archie Gray, and a loan deal for O’Brien just makes too much sense.