Huddersfield Town losing Sunday's play-off final against Nottingham Forest has heightened the speculation surrounding the future of Lewis O'Brien. 

O'Brien has, once again, been a star in the Championship this season for Carlos Corberan, featuring in 46 of 49 league and play-off fixtures.

However, failure to win promotion to the Premier League has left Huddersfield vulnerable when it comes to retaining the 23-year-old, given he looks ready for the top-flight.

As per a report from The Athletic, Leeds United have been tracking O'Brien throughout the season having shown an initial interest in the midfielder last summer. It's known that Huddersfield's county rivals are in need of midfield reinforcements this window.

That comes days after The Sun outlined how Leeds were in fact ready to bid for O'Brien, who has a release clause of only £10m after he agreed a new contract with Huddersfield last summer.

O'Brien scored three goals and registered three assists last season in the Championship, carrying a threat all over the park in the number of roles Corberan called on him in.

In Sunday's play-off final, O'Brien went close to creating a late equaliser, flashing a shot across goal that was inches ahead of a lunging Jon Russell.

However, Town fell to a 1-0 defeat.

The Verdict 

O'Brien is Premier League ready and there's certainly an acceptance amongst the Huddersfield supporters that he will be moving on this summer.

Whether that's to Leeds or not remains to be seen.

We know that the club like him and their interest has stretched back for some time now. However, they've not met Huddersfield's valuation before and that might happen again.

£10m would prove to be decent business for Huddersfield and, given how good O'Brien is, they are within their rights to stand firm.

Thoughts? Let us know!