Nottingham Forest: Sheth gives Lewis O’Brien update

Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth has claimed that Lewis O’Brien is no longer in Nottingham Forest’s 25-man squad.

The Lowdown: Deal falls through

O’Brien was close to joining Blackburn Rovers on loan according to Football Insider, but the deal fell through due to a failure to submit the correct paperwork and the Championship club are looking to appeal the decision.

Steve Cooper’s side would then sign Andre Ayew as a free agent, he had been released recently by his former club Al Sadd.

The Ghanaian’s deal with the Premier League club will be until the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

The Latest: O’Brien out, Ayew in

Speaking live on Sky Sports News, Sheth claimed that O’Brien was removed from Forest’s 25-man squad and Ayew took his spot. He also said that Blackburn is currently appealing to the English Football League about the failed loan for the midfielder.

He stated (0:15), “He [Andre Ayew] as we mentioned before, is in Nottingham Forest’s 25 man squad for the rest of the season.

“Now we were wondering who was going to be left out because it looked like it was going to be either Ayew or Lewis O’Brien who would make it into that squad.

“Ayew we know is in there, but we were just inquiring to Nottingham Forest about whether there were any long-term injuries.

“That would mean O’Brien could still get in the squad and a longer-term injury would be omitted.

“We can now tell you because the Premier League have released all of the squad lists for every single Premier League club for the rest of the season and Lewis O’Brien is not in the 25-man Nottingham Forest squad.

“You’ll remember he was due to join Blackburn Rovers on a loan deal, on deadline day but the paperwork was not submitted in time.

“Blackburn are now appealing that decision because it hasn’t gone their way so far.

“So Lewis O’Brien in a bit of limbo at the moment not in the 25-man Nottingham Forest squad for the rest of the season, just waiting to see if the appeal is successful, whereby he can still join Blackburn Rovers.”

The Verdict: Shame for both parties

We believe that the failure of Jon Dahl’s Tomasson’s side to land O’Brien on loan is a real shame for them and the player.

The English midfielder has barely featured from the start this season under Steve Cooper, we believe a loan move would’ve been a great chance for him to get more consistent minutes.

O’Brien knows the Championship well, he’s played in the division over 100 times and in our view would be a useful asset to many teams in there.

When the player was at Huddersfield Town, pundit Jobi McAnuff praised the 24-year-old and labelled him as a midfielder who has ‘a bit of everything’ when speaking to Sky Sports (via Hampshire Live).

The Terriers had O’Brien on their books from a young age and he certainly made an impact in midfield, as he won their player of the season in the 2019/20 campaign.

In our view, it’s a real shame about O’Brien’s failed move to Blackburn, for his sake hopefully it can get resolved.

He’s still a young player and could offer a lot to the Championship, his dreams of first-team Premier League football are farm from over if he’s given more time to develop his game. We believe that another Championship stint could allow him to do just that .