Leeds back on trail of £15m-rated midfielder but face quartet of rivals – Exclusive

Leeds United are back on the trail of Lewis O’Brien, but they are not the only club looking closely at the Huddersfield Town star, TEAMtalk understands.

The 23-year-old, a product of the Huddersfield academy, was the subject of numerous bids from Leeds in the summer – but they were never able to match Town’s valuation of the highly-rated midfielder.

The Terriers were believed to want a deal starting at £15million. However, Leeds’ closest bid was said to be around £13million.

Instead of leaving O’Brien was rewarded with a new four-year deal, but even with that Leeds are ready to renew their interest in January.

However, we understand Marcelo Bielsa’s men are not alone in following O’Brien – who has enjoyed an excellent campaign so far this season.

Newcastle, Wolves, Burnley and Norwich are all believed to be weighing up offers for the player in the New Year.

O’Brien has made 25 appearances in all competitions for Town this season, scoring twice in that time.

Blackburn to reject Brereton Diaz bids

Meanwhile, Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray insists that the Championship club will resist any bids for Ben Brereton Diaz in the January transfer window.

The Chile international became the 24th Rovers player to hit 20 goals in a single season when he notched the winner against Barnsley on Wednesday night. He is also the quickest to achieve that feat since club legend Alan Shearer in 1994-95.

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Mowbray feels the 22-year-old has now shed the price-tag pressure following his £6million switch from Nottingham Forest back in 2018.

The Rovers chief also hinted that he will move for some younger strikers in the January window. However, that will not be at the expense of Leeds and West Ham target Brereton Diaz.

Mowbray said: “If Ben Brereton wasn’t scoring Danny Graham was scoring and Bradley Dack was scoring. He wasn’t being suppressed because they are good players in their own right.

“As you can see you shed some skin off and he has to grow. That’s why I kept saying to the owners, the day Brereton gets sold someone will fill the void.

“Let’s hope Sam Gallagher becomes a 30-goal centre forward. He has rarely been asked to play the position that gets him in the position to score goals.

Keeping Brereton Diaz could be tough

“When we decide ‘the king is dead, long live the king’. I’m not saying that it will happen but he’ll have the opportunity.

“I’m hoping in this window we bring some young strikers in to the football club. They will have to watch and understand how we expect them to play. One of them might grow into a top player as well.”

However, Mowbray was quick to add that he sees Brereton Diaz remaining at Ewood for the time being: “I need to clarify, we’re not looking to sell Ben Brereton, we need him to hopefully get 40 goals and help the team be successful this year.”

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