Swansea City on the verge of winning transfer battle for Nottingham Forest midfielder | OneFootball

Swansea City are finalising a deal for Nottingham Forest's Lewis O'Brien ahead of numerous Championship sides.

Swansea City are set to win the race for Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O'Brien before deadline day.

It was reported earlier today that Derby County and Swansea had both entered the race for O'Brien according to Alan Nixon via Patreon. He reported that Paul Warne's side are pushing the most for the out of favour ace, although their league position could be an issue in their bid to bring the 26-year-old across the A52.

Instead, he is set to switch to South Wales, with The Not the Top 20 Podcast revealing O'Brien is finalising a move to Swansea instead. This will be the latest loan switch from the City Ground, with O'Brien heading to Middlesbrough previously under Michael Carrick.

He first went on loan to DC United prior to joining Michael Carrick on Teesside, with LAFC his second MLS side in the last few seasons.

Swansea beat numerous Championship sides to Lewis O'Brien capture

Alan Nixon reported earlier in the window that Hull are keen on acquiring O'Brien's services on loan, while Nixon also posted that Blackburn Rovers were looking to win the 26-year-old's signature. But FLW have also exclusively revealed that Championship promotion challengers Burnley have been eager to win the race too.

According to Nixon, Forest are asking interested clubs to cover a significant portion of O’Brien’s £40,000 weekly wages, but as the transfer window draws closer to its end, they may be forced to lower their demands.

More recently, it was reported that five Championship sides are now pushing for O'Brien, and the midfielder was first said to be keen on a move to Blackburn Rovers or Preston North End, with their current league position a lot stronger than the others in the race.

Derby, Luton Town, and Swansea were still showing strong interest, and they are offering more than the Lancashire duo in terms of wage coverage, as per Nixon. Rovers and the PNE are unwilling to cover more than half of O'Brien's wage at Forest.

Now, it appears Lewis O'Brien is moving to join Luke Williams and co. in South Wales at Swansea. His side have already acquired Melker Widell and immediately loaned the Swede back to AaB Fodbold. While, according to Fabrizio Romano, the Swans have beaten Middlesbrough to the signing of Manchester City midfielder Jacob Wright.

According to Darren Witcoop, Barnsley's Adam Phillips has also been considered. However, they may be in the market for multiple midfielders, with Plymouth Argyle reportedly identifying Swansea's Jay Fulton as someone they could bring in over the last two days of the transfer window on loan, according to Nixon.

Matt Grimes needs replacing at Swansea City - Lewis O'Brien would go some way to doing that

Coventry City had an offer of around £3.5 million - £4 million accepted for Matt Grimes this week. While this marks a sad conclusion to a wonderful chapter, Williams' side must now move on and, with just a few days left of the window, they must look to replace the midfielder as soon as possible.

For O'Brien, he could rediscover the form that made him one of the Championship’s standout performers after the persistent injury issues with Boro. He has the engine to patrol the engine room if needed and the control and passing range to dictate games.

Even on loan, this is an excellent signing. O'Brien is the right sort of player and character to add a lot to the Swansea team between now and the end of the campaign. It's a real coup amid so much competition.