Leeds United and Huddersfield Town at odds over financial structure of Lewis O’Brien deal
Leeds United and Huddersfield Town are yet to strike an agreement over the financial structure of a deal for Lewis O’Brien, according to Phil Hay.
Writing on The Athletic website [08/08/21], Hay offered an update on Leeds’ pursuit of the Terriers midfielder.
He wrote: “At the time of writing, there is no agreement over the financial structure of a deal for the 22-year-old, someone Huddersfield value at £8 million-plus.
“O’Brien was missing from Huddersfield’s season opener against Derby County yesterday but only because of a positive COVID-19 test.
“This is where Victor Orta relies on his strategy of shortlisting fall-backs and contingencies, despite his confidence in pitching to Leeds’ first-choice targets. Bielsa is not excessive in asking for bodies or high budgets. But when it comes to delivering on his general wish list, he expects results.”
Going to the wire
If a deal is to be done in this transfer window to take O’Brien to Elland Road, it may well be in the last few days of August.
Leeds kick off their Premier League season with a trip to Manchester United next Saturday, and transfer deadline day is only a matter of weeks away.
There appears little chance of O’Brien signing and featuring for the Whites this month, with his positive COVID-19 case likely to further complicate matters.
Depending on subsequent results, the Englishman may be required to isolate for an extended period of time which would scupper any imminent plans for a medical and face-to-face talks.
But before any of that can happen Leeds and Huddersfield still need to reach a happy medium in negotiations.
Alan Nixon [The Sun] has previously reported that the Championship side were demanding £10million for O’Brien, and that may still be the case, but from Hay’s recent report it sounds like they could be prepared to accept a lower fee but with add-ons included which could reach that eight-figure amount in the future.
Either way, it appears to be a complicated deal that could take some time to complete, if it is completed at all.
In other Leeds United news, Fabrizio Romano claims the Whites are set to issue a major announcement.