Lewis O’Brien will have big boots to fill if he swaps Yorkshire for Tyneside during the summer transfer window.
Joe Willock might have only been a Newcastle United player for three short months but the Arsenal loanee’s impact at St James’ Park has been nothing short of colossal. Those dramatic late strikes against Tottenham, West Ham and Liverpool have all-but secured Newcastle’s Premier League status for another season.
But, with Arsenal demanding a fee of £20 million, a permanent deal for the England U21 international may be just out of Steve Bruce’s reach.
And, according to The Sun, Newcastle have now identified a more affordable alternative too. Whether the £4 million-rated O’Brien is capable of making the same impact as Willock in black and white, however, well that feels unlikely.
And that is no disrespect to the Colchester-born 22-year-old.
It’s just that O’Brien, having scored just five times in 80 Championship games, is far from a regular source of goals. Compare that with Willock; a midfielder who boasts that Lampard-esque penchant for perfectly-timed, penalty-area darts.
Keep him and Newcastle it would be no surprise at all if Willock became the first midfielder to hit double figures in a Premier League season since Gini Wijnaldum.
Either way, with O’Brien now on Steve Bruce’s radar, there is a reluctant acceptance among Huddersfield fans that keeping him out the clutches of a top-flight club will be easier said than done.
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