The EFL are unlikely to make any decision on Lewis O’Brien’s appeal to sign from Nottingham Forest to Blackburn Rovers today. The Championship outfit are still awaiting a result from their appeal, according to the Lancashire Telegraph.
The 23-year-old was all set to sign for the Ewood Park outfit on transfer deadline day. A deal was in place for the midfielder to sign for Blackburn but they submitted the wrong paperwork.
Now, O’Brien is in limbo. With Forest believing that he was signing for Blackburn they chose to leave him out of their Premier League squad for the second half of the 2022/23 campaign.
It’s perhaps a surprise that O’Brien has been dumped by the Reds. He cost £10 million from Huddersfield in the summer and has largely been impressive during his time at the City Ground.
O’Brien made 14 appearances during the first half of 2022/23. He scored in a 3-2 defeat against Fulham and although he’d not started many games, he always gave his all.
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Now, the wait to discover whether or not the deal has been sanctioned goes on. It does have to be said that the longer this drags out, the less likely it seems that it will be authorised.
EFL unlikely to make O’Brien decision today
Hopefully, common sense can prevail here. Forest want to do the right thing by O’Brien but ultimately they can’t give him the first-team football that he’s desperately craving.
The Reds do have options. It’s been claimed by The Sun that a move to the MLS isn’t completely out of the question and that could be an option before their transfer window closes.
Playing in the Championship would be more idea, however. O’Brien is familiar with that division having excelled with Huddersfield during the 2021/22 campaign and helping them to the play-offs.
Forest might view O’Brien has a big player for the club in the future. In the short term, however, his career is currently on hold as the club awaits a verdict from the EFL over his move to Blackburn.