Phil Hay has been speaking about where Leeds United stand in their attempts to sign Lewis O’Brien on the latest episode of The Phil Hay Show.
Leeds are still yet to find an adequate backup for Kalvin Phillips and reports have suggested that O’Brien is being targeted as that potential signing, although it will likely set them back £10 million for a player that is yet to play higher than Championship level.
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Current Huddersfield Town boss Carlos Corberan worked alongside Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds as the Under-23s coach between 2017 and 2020, so a deal may be more likely to be struck up if they have a good relationship from their time together.
Hay spoke about where Leeds are currently at in terms of trying to bring in O’Brien.
“They are in for O’Brien at Huddersfield. Good player – again, another player who people might think well, not a lot of showbiz there, but he’s somebody who Bielsa evidently likes.
“Bielsa was there for the League Cup game against Sheffield Wednesday over the weekend. That one looks like it’s there to be done if Leeds actually want to push it through.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ attempts to sign O’Brien…
Hay mentioned that Bielsa went to watch O’Brien in person when Huddersfield played Sheffield Wednesday, which shows how much of a first-hand interest he is taking in this signing and how keen he is to bring him to the club.
Leeds have already improved and targeted key areas this summer by bringing in Junior Firpo as they lost their left-back from last season in Ezgjan Alioski, as well as making Jack Harrison a permanent signing, so bringing in O’Brien to potentially learn from Phillips could be an intelligent move.
As Hay suggests, it very much appears that the ball is in Leeds’ court on this possible deal, so it remains to be seen whether an agreement can be reached with Huddersfield – though it does seem as if the Whites are keen on adding O’Brien to their roster.