Key factor revealed as Middlesbrough beat Coventry, Ipswich and Leeds to Premier League target | OneFootball

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Middlesbrough have won the race to sign Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O'Brien.

Reports from journalist Alan Nixon, on his Patreon account, say that Boro have agreed to sign O'Brien on a season-long loan deal. Nixon added that the 24-year-old was very keen to join Michael Carrick's side, despite their poor form to start the season.

O'Brien had interest from other Championship clubs; namely Coventry City, Ipswich Town, and Leeds United. The Teesside club won the race, though, as they were willing to cover a bigger percentage of his wages than any other team. Nixon said that it was surprising that Leeds ended up backing out of the race.

The journalist reported that Forest initially only wanted to let the midfielder go for a transfer fee on a permanent basis. But their stance eventually softened to the point that they were wanting a loan-to-buy move for the 24-year-old.

Now it appears that they are happy for O'Brien to play his football elsewhere for the rest of this season, and he will return to his parent club for the start of next season. His contract with the club doesn't expire until he summer of 2026.

How good is Lewis O'Brien?

Any Chanmpionship club who was looking to bring in a proven midfielder at their level will struggle to do much better than O'Brien.

Over his three-year senior tenure with Huddersfield Town, which is where he started his footballing career, he was one of the standout performers. In his last year, specifically, with the Terriers, he averaged a very impressive SofaScore match rating of 7 out of 10.

He was good on the ball, both when moving with it and passing, and he was a solid defensive option when needed. To add to this, he had six goal contributions for Town.

When he moved to Forest, after their promotion to the Premier League, his game time was more limited. But, this wasn't necessarily due to a lack of performance; they just had a very bloated squad. This led to lots of rotation and, therefore, no consistent playing time for most players.

He got a loan move out to America, in March of this year, to go and played for Wayne Rooney at DC United. He played almost every single minute he could in the MLS, during his time in Washington. He provided 2 goals and assists in 17 league games, averaging a 7.06 match rating.

What will O'Brien bring to Middlesbrough?

Proven Championship quality is the simple way to put it.

Boro have quite a young squad as well, and, even though O'Brien fits their average squad age perfectly (24.8), he will bring a different element of experience.

Jonathan Howson has been carrying the armband this year. At 35, he has plenty of years of playing in the Championship behind him. But he might be starting to slow down a bit.

If you pair him in a midfield with someone like Hayden Hackney, you have two opposite ends of the spectrum. O'Brien will be that perfect happy medium for Carrick's side.

His willingness to join the club, even with the bad start to the season, should make Boro fans even more excited.