Birmingham City and Southampton FC enter transfer race for Nottingham Forest player | OneFootball

Lewis O'Brien has been targeted by several Championship outfits

Birmingham City and Southampton are the latest Championship sides to enter the race for Lewis O'Brien's signature in the early stages of the summer transfer window.

That is according to a fresh report from Alan Nixon, with the likes of Hull City, Preston North End and Swansea City also keen on acquiring the services of the Nottingham Forest midfielder heading into the new second tier campaign.

Blues and the South Coast outfit spent last season two divisions apart, but their respective campaigns couldn't have been any more contrasting, with Chris Davies' side romping to an EFL and world-record points total of 111 in League One, whilst Southampton recorded the second-lowest point haul in Premier League history, bettering Derby County's unwanted tally by a solitary point.

Following the recent appointment of Will Still, Saints are looking to make a plethora of high-quality signings to cope with a highly anticipated exodus of big earners at St Mary's, having already signed centre-back Joshua Quarshie from Bundesliga outfit, TSG Hoffenheim.

However, the newly-relegated outfit are set to face stern competition in their aims of seeing the former Huddersfield Town man move to St Mary's, with Birmingham also linked with several high-profile potential incomings of late, such is the ambition at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Birmingham City and Southampton FC enter Lewis O'Brien transfer race

O'Brien has been on Forest's books for three years, moving to the City Ground alongside fellow former Terrier, Harry Toffolo, in a joint deal which reportedly cost £10m, having impressed under Carlos Corberan in West Yorkshire.

The 26-year-old has found regular minutes in the East Midlands hard to come by, which has led to four loan spells during said timeframe, featuring for D.C. United, Middlesbrough, LAFC and most recently, Swansea.

O'Brien impressed during his temporary period in South Wales in which he scored once in 16 appearances, with Alan Sheehan's side interested in making his stay a permanent one, whilst Hull and Preston are also keen.

It has also been reported by Hull Live that the Tigers are confident in striking a deal, which would most likely be on a loan basis, whilst it was exclusively revealed by FLW last month that Wrexham were also interested in the box-to-box midfielder.

In Nixon's new report, it has been stated that Blues and Saints are both interested in signing O'Brien on a permanent basis, although such plans do have the potential to be disrupted when the clubs learn Forest's asking price.

Birmingham City looking to add further experience amid Lewis O'Brien links

As well as the fresh links to O'Brien, Nixon has reported that Birmingham are closing in on a deal for former academy graduate, Demarai Gray, after it was reported by Ben Jacobs earlier in the month that his current employers, Al-Ettifaq, were willing to part ways with the winger for £8m.

The report also states that Blues have joined the race to sign Craig Dawson, with the defender now available on a free transfer following his departure from Wolverhampton Wanderers, whilst Derby County and Wrexham remain interested in the 34-year-old, as well as pre-existing links to the attacking duo of Oli McBurnie and Kyogo Furuhashi.

Tom Wagner hasn't been afraid to showcase the Second City club's ambition on and off the pitch, with Blues expected to rival the likes of Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton for signings as a result of ever-growing revenue streams, which has now been proven as they enter the O'Brien transfer saga.

The midfielder would bolster what is already an impressive department, with the likes of Tomoki Iwata and Seung-Ho Paik expected to adapt to the Championship extremely well, in a similar vein to many of their colleagues in B9.