Sources: O'Brien telling Huddersfield he wants to quit as new Leeds and Crystal Palace offers tabled
Lewis O'Brien is telling Huddersfield Town he wants to quit and join Leeds United, Football Insider understands.
The Premier League club have bid for the midfielder, 22, and held talks with the Terriers but failed to secure an agreement and must now fend off strong interest from Crystal Palace, as this site revealed yesterday.
A source with knowledge of O'Brien's situation has told Football Insider that he is making it clear to Huddersfield chiefs during upcoming talks that he is keen to make the short journey to Leeds and complete a transfer.
United are expected to return to the negotiating table with an improved offer for the midfielder.
But Huddersfield are holding out for fee not far off £10million for their academy product and prize asset.
The Championship outfit released a statement yesterday confirming the strong interest in O'Brien.
"There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Lewis O’Brien’s future, in particular, and I can confirm we have received and rejected two transfer offers for him," chief executive Mark Devlin said.
As detailed by this site (August 6th), Marcelo Bielsa's men tabled an opening offer of no more than £3million for the 22-year-old.
The Terriers initially demanded £10million for the midfielder but would likely accept a seven-figure fee below that sum in the final weeks of the window.
As revealed by Football Insider earlier today (August 12th), Bielsa is "exasperated" Leeds are yet to make a breakthrough in negotiations.
O'Brien is into the final 12 months of his contract at Huddersfield.
However, the Terriers do have the option of triggering a one-year extension clause.