Sheffield Wednesday have confirmed Jordan O’Brien has been released. The 19-year-old failed to make a first-team appearance and was out of contract this summer, so it’s no surprise that he’s departed the club. O’Brien represented the U23s this season but failed to make the step-up due to so many players behind ahead in the pecking order.
The centre-forward joined on a free transfer from Corby Town in 2017 and rose through the youth ranks to the U23s. O’Brien had Fraser Preston and Preslav Borukov standing in his way of getting reserve-team football, and he had Steven Fletcher, Fernando Forestieri, Atdhe Nuhiu, Jordan Rhodes and Sam Winnall standing in his way of reaching the first-team.
O’Brien couldn’t nail down a regular starting place in the reserves, never stood a chance of featuring under Garry Monk, so his contract was always going to run down and not be renewed. The 19-year-old is one of many youngsters shown the exit door this summer, but it remains to be seen where he’ll end up.
Vital Wednesday have cited a number of players who have fallen out of professional football after being released before breaking into the first-team and O’Brien is at risk of following in their footsteps. He’ll hope to get interest from the Football League, but clubs have little to go on given his inactivity this season.
