Huddersfield Town head of football Leigh Bromby admits the Terriers have sold "one of the best" players in the Championship to Nottingham Forest.
O'Brien has become the club's 10th summer arrival as Forest prepare for their return to the Premier League after a 23-year exile from the top-flight. Harry Toffolo, also formerly of Huddersfield, joined the Reds today and both players will aim to impress Steve Cooper during pre-season.
Midfielder O'Brien joined Huddersfield as an 11-year-old and made a total of 130 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring eight goals. Speaking of the 23-year-old's exit, head of football Leigh Bromby said: "We’ve known Lewis a very long time and we’re all proud of the player, and man, he has become. He’s clearly established himself as one of the best players in the Sky Bet Championship and has earned the opportunity to play in the Premier League.
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"Lewis, like Harry, totally committed to our process of how we develop players and worked tirelessly with our staff to improve every aspect of his game. They both deserve all the credit in the world for that, as do our staff.
"It’s a constant in football that players move on, but we understand that days like this are always sad ones for fans who have created a bond with players like Lewis and Harry. However, they were understandably interested in the opportunity to play in the Premier League. As always, the transfer agreement then had to be right for the Club – the move wouldn’t happen otherwise – and we eventually reached a position that every party was satisfied with.
"We knew that we could realistically lose Lewis and Harry in this transfer window, so we’ve prepared for that eventuality by bolstering those positions in acquiring Yuta Nakayama, David Kasumu and Jack Rudoni. We feel the squad is in a good position, but we will also never stop looking at ways we can improve."
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