O’Brien deal OFF
Blackburn Rovers have LOST their battle with the EFL to sign midfielder Lewis O’Brien from Nottingham Forest.
Rovers took the League to an independent tribunal as they argued O’Brien should have been allowed to join them on deadline day.
But the verdict of the panel came down on the side of the EFL and left Blackburn, Forest and O’Brien disappointed.
However the EFL maintained that not enough of the paperwork was processed in time and that left Blackburn hoping for a reprieve.
The deal was rushed along on the final day and O’Brien had done a medical and was even going through an interview with the club TV channel when snags cropped up.
A delay was caused by the wrong spelling of the name of his agent on a form and then queries about the full-term aspect of the transfer.
Blackburn were going to commit to buying O’Brien permanently if they win promotion. It would have been the biggest signing of the season in the League at £10 million.
However an EFL official asked why they did not detail what happened with O’Brien’s contract if they were relegated.
Blackburn have also been blocked in a move for Rochdale prospect Ethan Brierley whose deal was put through after the 11pm cut off point.
Brierley has since been on the Dale bench and may move in the summer.
However O’Brien is now waiting on Forest finding him a home in America’s MLS. They had held back from commuting to any club while there was a chance of Blackburn signing him.
Story courtesy of Alan Nixon @reluctantnicko