Phil Hay: Leeds United will sign Lewis O’Brien if they agree fee with Huddersfield
Leeds United will sign Lewis O’Brien as their new central midfielder once they agree a fee with Huddersfield, according to The Athletic journalist Phil Hay.
The Sun has reported that Leeds will table a £7million bid to sign the 22-year-old this week as Marcelo Bielsa aims to bolster his squad before the transfer window closes in less than two weeks’ time.
Hay reports that after missing out on Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, Leeds have turned their attention towards O’Brien and that the only hurdle in their way is an agreement with Carlos Corberan’s Huddersfield.
“If Leeds manage to agree a price with Yorkshire neighbours Huddersfield Town for Lewis O’Brien, then it’s going to be him,” Hay said on The Athletic website.
“O’Brien has been the choice since Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher rejected Leeds and went to Crystal Palace on loan instead. But here and now, there’s no deal in place.”
Imminent?
You have to say fair play to Huddersfield because they haven’t caved in and are willing to fight it out to keep hold of one of their best players.
We’d do the same for Kalvin Phillips so why should we expect any less from them?
However, it seems as though O’Brien already has it in his head where he wants to play next season – and that’s with Leeds.
Once an offer has been accepted by Huddersfield, it seems as though it’s just a formality for Leeds to press forward and sign the Colchester-born central midfielder.
Will O’Brien walk into our starting line-up? It seems unlikely.
He’s very much a central midfielder so could be viewed as a long-term replacement for Mateusz Klich or even someone who’ll play alongside the Poland ace or Stuart Dallas when we’re against strong opposition.
For instance, on Saturday against Manchester United. Rodrigo wasn’t the best choice in the midfield alongside Klich, especially with Kalvin Phillips out.
For those games, we may see O’Brien, Dallas and Phillips play as a midfield trio while in games against teams at a similar level to us, we may go with Rodrigo or even Tyler Roberts over one of them with Klich offering back-up.
We’ll see how it goes but we shouldn’t judge how we’ll do over the course of the season on one result.
In other Leeds United news, Andy Townsend has heard rumours this Elland Road star is “overweight”.