Leeds now face fight to sign ‘special’ 24-year-old as Championship trio ready moves

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Leeds United have been joined in the race by Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough for Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O’Brien.

That is according to journalist Alan Nixon, who provided the update on Leeds‘ pursuit of O’Brien on his Patreon as the window heads into the final stretch.

It is said that Coventry, Ipswich and Middlesbrough have all enquired about the possibility of taking O’Brien on loan for the full season.

Leeds are also keen on signing the 24-year-old – who Carlos Corberan hailed as ‘special’ back in 2021 – in a temporary deal as they ramp up their pursuit of a new midfielder.

Forest ideally want to sell O’Brien permanently or include a purchase option in a loan deal, but none of the Championship quartet are yet to warm to that idea.

Leeds face fight to sign Forest’s O’Brien

O’Brien is among several midfielders having been linked with a move to Leeds ahead of Friday’s 11pm deadline.

The Whites are also chasing Rangers’ Glen Kamara and according to Fabrizio Romano, are close to an agreement for the 27-year-old after a summer full of speculation.

Fortuna Dusseldorf’s Ao Tanaka is the latest name on Leeds’ radar with Bild reporting over the weekend that a bid had been submitted.

O’Brien is undoubtedly the most proven of those options at this level, but at the same time, appears to be the most difficult to do.

According to Phil Hay, O’Brien is on a considerable salary at Forest and if the Premier League side want full coverage of his wages, it could put potential buyers off.