Stoke City: Burnley, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers target could solve midfield issue for Mark Robins | OneFootball

Lewis O'Brien would be a smart signing for the Potters given their current situation

Stoke City need to be searching for additions to their midfield in the January window to improve Mark Robins' squad, and Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O'Brien, who has been linked to Burnley, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers, should also be a target for the Potters this month.

Stoke have had a relatively quiet month on the transfer front so far, with left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand recently arriving as their first capture of the window this week on loan from Manchester City.

Robins is bound to want to add to his squad as the deadline edges ever closer, and while strikers and wingers are mainly set to be on his radar, a central midfielder is now also needed, given the Potters' current predicament in the middle of the park.

Forest man O'Brien has great experience in the second-tier, and so it is no surprise to see him reportedly courted by Burnley, Hull and Blackburn, but Stoke must also have him on their shortlist and should make an approach to land him this month to solve their midfield issues.

Lewis O'Brien has impressed in the Championship and currently has second-tier suitors

O'Brien's last Forest appearance came in January 2023, so it is not a shock that his future is not seen to be at the club, yet he would still represent a fine acquisition for any second-tier team, given his previous exploits with Huddersfield Town and impressive recent spell at Middlesbrough.

The Colchester-born midfielder began his career as a youth player with the Terriers, and he became a regular for his boyhood club in 2019/20 after an initial loan spell at Bradford City.

O'Brien won Town's Player of the Season award in his first full campaign as a Championship player, then continued to be a regular for the next two seasons as they went on to reach the play-off final against Forest in 2022.

After a loss that saw the Reds promoted to the Premier League, he made the move to the East Midlands on a four-year deal for an initial £10 million, but has struggled for minutes at the City Ground over the last few years and instead had to go out on loan to earn valuable game-time.

He has featured for DC United, Middlesbrough and Los Angeles FC over the last two seasons, and he suffered injury issues while on Teesside in the early parts of last term, yet returned to action in the second-half of the campaign and soon became a key man for Michael Carrick, with 13 consecutive starts as Boro lost just three times in that run.

O'Brien was reportedly of interest to Luton Town and Norwich City last summer, but he instead made the move to LA and featured 18 times in the USA, yet is now back at Forest searching for another move following the end of the MLS season.

Alan Nixon has linked the 26-year-old with a move to both Hull City and Blackburn Rovers in days gone by, while FLW have exclusively revealed that Championship promotion challengers Burnley are also eager to win the race for O'Brien's signature, so Stoke are set to face a real battle to sign him if they register their interest soon.

Stoke need O'Brien in midfield right now amid injury and form issues

As aforementioned, the Potters' main targets this month are likely in attack, yet their need for new midfielders has been accelerated in recent weeks after both Sol Sidibe and Jordan Thompson were ruled out with long-term injuries.

17-year-old Sidibe has been on the periphery of the Stoke squad as he takes his first steps into the senior game, yet is unlikely to feature again this season due to a back issue, while Thompson has also mostly been given fleeting appearances this term, but is also now out for a while after undergoing surgery on his groin.

As well as that pair, Robins is still unable to call on either Bosun Lawal or Ben Pearson at this moment in time, as they each near the end of their respective lengthy injury lay-offs, so the likes of Lewis Baker, Wouter Burger and Tatsuki Seko are having to start nearly every game in the middle of the park right now.

Stoke are clearly lacking options in midfield, and as well as that simple fact, they also do not have a player with anything close to the same pedigree and profile as O'Brien in their squad right now, and their lack of drive and fight in their recent 3-1 loss to Portsmouth emphasised that greatly.

He is a box-to-box midfielder that likes to run at defences, but also do the dirty work when needed - he was in the 99th percentile for successful take-ons per 90, 95th percentile for fouls drawn and carries into the final third per 90, and 93rd percentile for tackles won in the middle third per 90 when compared to his fellow Championship midfielders in the 2021/22 season, according to fbref.

That driving attacking ability, as well as his tenacity and high-intensity-driven style of play would be a huge addition to the Potters' squad, and it goes without saying that he would be one of the first names on the teamsheet if he was to join for the second-half of this campaign.

It seems like a no-brainer for Stoke to join the chase for his services soon, and boss Robins would massively boost his side's chances of avoiding relegation if he could get a player like O'Brien through the door this month.