Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has admitted that he believes that Lewis O'Brien will be playing in the Premier League next season regardless of whether Huddersfield Town achieve promotion this weekend.

The Terriers will be looking to secure a return to the top-flight on Sunday when they face Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

A key member of Huddersfield's squad, Lewis O'Brien has helped to transform the club's fortunes in the second-tier this season by delivering a host of impressive performances at this level.

A report from TEAMtalk earlier this month suggested that Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton and Burnley are all keeping tabs on O'Brien ahead of the summer transfer window.

When you consider that O'Brien signed a contract extension last year which is set to keep him at the John Smith's Stadium until 2025, it may take a major bid to test Huddersfield's resolve as they will be in no rush to sell the midfielder.

Ahead of the Terriers' meeting with Forest, Goodman has delivered an honest assessment on O'Brien's future at the club.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports EFL Podcast, Goodman said: "Lewis O'Brien, one of my favourite players in the Championship, will not be a Championship player next season I believe.

"Whether Huddersfield get in there or not remains to be seen but I believe he will be a Premier League player."

 

 

The Verdict

For Huddersfield's sake, they will be hoping to keep O'Brien at the club by offering the chance of playing in the top-flight next season.

In order to achieve their goal of promotion, the Terriers will need O'Brien to be firing on all cylinders on Sunday.

During the 2021/22 campaign, the midfielder has managed to provide six direct goal contributions at this level whilst he has also made 2.2 tackles and 37.5 passes per game (as per WhoScored).

Currently averaging an impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.10 in the Championship, O'Brien will unquestionably be confident in his ability to deliver the goods against Forest and thus it wouldn't be at all surprising if Huddersfield prevail in this particular fixture.