Hull City move ahead of Birmingham City & Southampton in Nottingham Forest transfer battle with £5m bid | OneFootball

Hull City have made an offer for Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O'Brien

Hull City have made an offer for Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O'Brien, with the Tigers opening the bidding for the 26-year-old, who has been deemed surplus to requirements at the City Ground.

The Colchester-born midfielder joined Nottingham Forest in July 2022 from Huddersfield Town but has struggled to establish himself in the Premier League side's first team, making just 17 appearances across all competitions.

His time at the City Ground has been characterised by loan spells - with recent moves to DC United, Middlesbrough, Los Angeles FC, and Swansea City.

The midfielder's contract situation does add urgency to Forest's decision-making, with his current deal running until June 2026 - and his chances of breaking into Nuno Espirito Santo's plans far gone.

Hull bid for O'Brien, but face competition & Nottingham Forest hurdle

According to journalist Alan Nixon via his Patreon, although Hull have proposed an offer of £5m to secure O'Brien's services, Forest are reportedly expecting a higher fee before sanctioning the player's departure for permanent talks.

The Tigers' £5m offer has established them as the first club to table a concrete bid for O'Brien, but they face significant competition from several second-tier rivals.

Birmingham City and Southampton have both shown strong interest in the midfielder but are understood to have other targets in mind - and are apparently reluctant to engage in a bidding war.

FLW exclusively revealed that Blues are set to sign Tommy Doyle, who could perhaps be one of the other targets the club had on their list.

Swansea City and Preston North End hoped for temporary deals

The competition extends beyond permanent deals, with Preston North End and Swansea City both wanting to explore loan options for the player.

Swansea are particularly keen on having O'Brien back in Wales again after his successful loan spell last season, where he made 16 appearances and scored one goal - but a permanent purchase appears to be a different proposition entirely for the Swans.

Several other clubs who had initially hoped to land O'Brien on loan have now seemingly been informed from this bid that Forest are only willing to sanction a permanent sale - effectively pricing out clubs seeking temporary deals.

Hull's willingness to go seemingly high at £5m does show early ambition to back new manager Sergej Jakirovic - after a disappointing 24/25 season that saw them stay up on the final day of the season.