Nottingham Forest star Lewis O’Brien remains in limbo with Blackburn Rovers now providing an update on the situation over his loan move to Ewood Park.
The Reds had agreed to let the 23-year-old head to the North West on deadline day. Formalities were agreed but Blackburn submitted the wrong paperwork.
That left O’Brien in limbo. Blackburn have been unable to register the young midfielder and right now he’s now in the 25-man Forest squad.
O’Brien made 14 appearances for Forest during the first half of 2022/23. Steve Cooper just felt that he was behind too many players in the pecking order to consider keeping, however.
Blackburn have made an appeal to get the EFL to allow O’Brien to be registered. It’s claimed by Lancashire Live that other parties are now getting involved to try and resolve the situation.
The club has released a statement too. They claim: “In the best interests of the player involved, the club has tried to conclude the matter as quickly as possible via an independent arbitrator, but due to the complexities involves, the confidential legal process is ongoing.”
O’Brien was signed by Forest during the summer. He cost the club £10 million and it appeared that he’d be a useful signing after first checking in.
O’Brien remains in limbo
This isn’t good news at all for the Forest midfielder. With MLS clubs now queuing up to take him on loan, perhaps he’s better off focusing on heading there instead in the coming weeks.
It’s not been an ideal few months for O’Brien. He came out of the side shortly after the World Cup break after picking up a virus. That saw other midfielders perform well and he lost his place in the team.
The youngster could still be a decent player in the future, however. Given his tender years, if he gets some game time under his belt for the remainder of this season, it could put him in good shape for the future.
Forest head coach Cooper is still a huge fan of the player. Right now, he’s still training with the team and the club will hope that something can get sorted for him to play some games very soon.
The chances of him doing that at Blackburn, however, now look remote at the very best.