Swansea City: Road block emerges in Nottingham Forest transfer pursuit as Spanish outfit register interest | OneFootball

Swansea City may struggle to sign Lewis O'Brien now that Carlos Corberan has expressed an interest in bringing him to Valencia.

Swansea City may face stern competition from La Liga giants Valencia for the signature of Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O'Brien this summer.

The midfielder joined the Swans in February of this year on loan from Forest, and he started every Championship game that he could, playing 99% of the available minutes.

Now in the final year of his contract at Forest, with whom he seems to have little chance of getting in the squad, O'Brien is wanted by numerous clubs, including his former manager Carlos Corberan over in Spain.

Swansea City face fresh Lewis O'Brien transfer competition from Valencia

According to journalist Alan Nixon via his Patreon, Swansea would love to re-sign O'Brien this summer from Forest, even with Swedish midfielder Melker Widell finally arriving from Aalborg, but they now have a fresh threat in the form of Valencia.

They are of course managed by ex-West Brom boss Corberan, who had O'Brien as a key player for Huddersfield Town as they reached the Championship play-off final in 2022 - coincidentally against the Forest side he would go on to join.

He has never really made the breakthrough at the City Ground though, leading to loan stints away with Middlesbrough, LAFC and then Swansea, who have already been confirmed by director of football Richard Montague as being an interested party in the battle for his services this summer.

Corberan though could scupper those plans, having overseen a rise from the relegation zone of La Liga and into mid-table, thanks to winning 9 of his 18 league matches in charge of his hometown club since his December move from West Brom.

Wanting to re-unite with O'Brien this summer, Corberan may have the pulling power necessary to get a deal over the line to bring the 26-year-old to the Mestalla.

Swansea City may have to concede defeat already in Lewis O'Brien race

Given the size of the club and the fact that they play in the top division in Spain, Valencia may be seen as a more favourable side to join than Swansea for O'Brien.

Of course, playing out in Spain is a better climate and it would be something new for his career, that still has a lot of years left within it.

Linking up with a manager he knows in the form of Corberan, who brought the best out of him for Huddersfield, could be a benefit as well, although he shone under Alan Sheehan too at Swansea.

Whatever the case though, given they've just spent a significant outlay on winger Zeidane Inoussa, the money may not be there for O'Brien to return to Swansea permanently, although with Widell and Goncalo Franco, the Welsh outfit may have a midfield partnership sorted for the next few years.