Swansea City can forget about Lewis O’Brien - They will find better value with Leyton Orient transfer | OneFootball

Whilst a Lewis O'Brien return would have provided sentimental value, signing Ethan Galbraith is arguably a better deal

Swansea City's dreams of a Lewis O'Brien return are likely going to remain a fantasy, but it shouldn't be all doom and gloom for Swans fans.

O'Brien's parent club, Nottingham Forest, have slapped an £8 million price tag atop the 26-year-old's head, per a report by Alan Nixon, despite playing just 17 times for the Reds and being sent out on loan to four different clubs since his arrival in 2022.

O'Brien's most recent loan spell came at the Swansea City Stadium, where he played a major role in the side's incredible run of form under Alan Sheehan, following Luke Williams' sacking in February.

Those 16 appearances will likely be the only ones he makes at Swansea, however, but the Swans are set to replace him with Ethan Galbraith, who arguably has a higher ceiling than the former Huddersfield man, and for a cheaper fee.

Swansea City lead the race to sign Ethan Galbraith - a cheaper, and better option than Lewis O'Brien

According to an exclusive report from Football League World, Swansea City are currently leading the race to sign highly-rated versatile midfielder Ethan Galbraith from last season's defeated League One play-off finalists, Leyton Orient.

Coming through the Manchester United academy, the 24-year-old Northern Irish international has progressed up the EFL at a decent rate, having impressed in League Two at Salford City and in the third tier at Doncaster Rovers and now Orient.

Whilst it's still unknown how much Swansea would need to pay Richie Wellens' side to acquire Galbraith's services, we do know that Huddersfield had a £2.5 million bid rejected in mid-June. With just one year remaining on his Leyton Orient contract, however, you'd hazard a guess that it won't take much more to pry him away from Brisbane Road.

Galbraith can operate in a multitude of positions, whether that be as a wide midfielder, central midfielder, or even at right-back, where he operated for the majority of the 2024/25 campaign, and this versatility is incredibly attractive for a side aiming to make an outside play-off run next season.

And, more importantly, Swansea would be set to pay substantially less for Galbraith than they would for O'Brien. Despite Galbraith being unproven at Championship level, many feel that his upside outshines that of O'Brien's, who has perhaps reached his peak as a proven Championship midfielder, after his spell in the Premier League hasn't gone the way he would have liked.

That's not to say that Swansea shouldn't be targeting an O'Brien return at all, but Galbraith has the potential to go even further, and the Swans could stand to make a healthy profit on him if he were to progress past their level.

Swansea tried to sign Galbraith previously - this summer, they could make that deal

Swansea City actually had a bid rejected on deadline day for Ethan Galbraith this past February, after the Championship outfit offered Orient £1 million for his services.

In the end, Swansea settled on a loan move for Lewis O'Brien to improve their midfield, and it worked out, with the club winning eight and losing just five of the 16 games O'Brien played in.

But now Alan Sheehan's side have the chance to bring in their target once more this summer, and it's likely that they won't miss out.

Galbraith would be a statement signing for Swansea, who themselves aren't messing about this summer, with the likes of Zeidane Inoussa, Cameron Burgess, and Ricardo Santos all already arriving at the Swansea City Stadium.

Under Sheehan, Swansea were one of the form sides in the entire Championship, and they look ready to carry that form into the new season as they aim to end a three-year play-off-less run in the second tier.