Nottingham Forest are open to selling Lewis O’Brien this summer amid interest from Sheffield United, according to journalist Alan Nixon.

Is Lewis O'Brien leaving Forest?

The Reds midfielder first arrived in the Premier League from Huddersfield Town last summer where he’s made a total of 17 appearances during his debut season, but despite his contract not expiring for another three years, his future has been uncertain ever since the new year.

Back in January, Steve Cooper’s fairly new signing was close to completing a temporary move to Blackburn Rovers but the deal fell through and he was therefore omitted from the manager’s squad for the second half of the season, meaning that he had to either sit on the sidelines until the summer or join a club in the Major League Soccer.

The Colchester-born talent, two months later, did just the latter after putting pen to paper on a short-term loan with D.C United until the end of the current campaign and he’s impressed during his time at the Audi Field being Wayne Rooney’s overall third best-performing player with a WhoScored match rating of 7.00, and this form has caught the eye of one potential suitor in particular.

Are Sheffield United signing O'Brien?

According to Nixon (via Football League World), Sheffield United are "keen" to sign O'Brien this summer. The Blades could "pursue" a move for the 24-year-old during the upcoming window, though it's "unlikely" that he will be the subject of another approach from Blackburn. Forest are "open" to selling the midfielder permanently but would also be willing to sanction another loan, meaning that admirers could easily "negotiate" a deal with his parent club at the City Ground.

Should Forest keep or sell O'Brien?

Nottingham Forest will have signed O’Brien for being a standout performer at Huddersfield where he was dubbed a “driving force” by journalist Josh Bunting, but having failed to make the same impression since moving to the Midlands netting just one goal all season, Evangelos Marinakis would be better cashing in this summer.

The D.C United loanee only made six starts prior to jetting off to America and the fact that Cooper didn’t include him as part of his squad from January onwards clearly shows that he wasn’t part of the manager’s plans moving forward, making him no more than a bit-part player.

Finally, O’Brien currently pockets £15k-per-week at Forest which makes him the club’s fourth-lowest earner, as per Capology, so he actually isn’t taking up that much room on the books, but freeing up the wage bill even the smallest bit and receiving a decent fee would only help increase the boss’ funds heading into the upcoming transfer window.