Nottingham Forest will be trying to enter the transfer market to bolster the squad ahead of the deadline on Monday night.
Evangelos Marinakis is keen to add a forward to the ranks. With every club in the Premier League seemingly eyeing forwards, however, that won’t be an easy thing to do.
Rangers have been linked with a move for Emmanuel Dennis ahead of the deadline. However, the player might not be the only cab off the rank when it comes to leaving the City Ground on deadline day.
Dennis could be followed by another player who has not had much luck at Forest. Now, it feels like a host of clubs are eying a swoop to take one player from the Reds ahead of the window slamming shut.
Five EFL clubs eye move for Forest midfielder Lewis O’Brien
According to Alan Nixon via his Patreon a host of clubs now want to sign O’Brien before the deadline tomorrow.
Intriguingly one of the teams considering a move for O’Brien is Derby County. They have some money to spend after flogging Eiran Cashin to Brighton last weekend before the Seagulls played Forest.
They might not lead the chase, however, with Swansea, Luton, Preston and Blackburn all pressing ahead to try and do a deal to land the midfield player either on loan or in a permanent deal.
O’Brien has been very unlucky during his time at Forest. He made 14 appearances at the start of the 2022/23 campaign and did largely alright when called upon by Steve Cooper.
However, injuries and illness meant that after the break for the World Cup, O’Brien missed out on the 25-man squad and headed out on loan to D.C United in the MLS.
A year at Middlesbrough followed but Michael Carrick chose not to sign him permanently. As a result, he spent the first half of 2024/25 playing in the MLS again, this time with LAFC.
Forest should try and sell O’Brien on deadline day
At 26-years-old O’Brien should be playing regular football and approaching the peak of his powers. Instead, he’s kicking his heels in the stands at Forest and that is doing nobody any favours.
Forest will accept bids of £5 million for O’Brien during the transfer window but the clubs in the mix might push to loan him first and then do a permanent deal for him during the summer window.
O’Brien won’t have much to prove in the EFL. He’s a seasoned player at that level and very nearly helped Huddersfield win promotion to the Premier League – with the Terriers narrowly beaten by Forest at Wembley.
The best outcome is for O’Brien to get out and play some football in the short term. Then, things can be reassessed in the summer with the midfielder highly unlikely to force his way into Nuno Espirito Santo’s team any time soon.
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