Irish defender Jake O’Brien made a surprising move from Crystal Palace to French side Lyon this summer, and he has now explained what prompted him to leave Selhurst Park.
The 22-year-old never made a senior appearance for Palace after featuring in the academy sides, and had a successful loan spell at RWD Molenbeek in Belgium last season.
This led to a move to French giants Lyon, who are also owned by Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor, but the side are in crisis at the bottom of the table.
O’Brien scored his first goal for the club at the weekend, which also handed them their first win of the season, and he is beginning to find his feet in France.
Jake O’Brien explains reason for leaving Crystal Palace
Speaking to Belgian outlet Le Soir, the centre-back explained why he chose to leave this summer.
“I especially wanted to prove it to myself, but after the preseason, which went well in my eyes, I thought it was time to move and follow a different path in my career,” he stated.
“I wanted a new challenge, and Lyon came. I couldn’t refuse.”
O’Brien made the right decision to leave Crystal Palace
O’Brien is now getting opportunities to play at one of the biggest clubs in France, whilst Crystal Palace pocketed around £1m for a player who had never made an official appearance.
The defender was highly unlikely to break the partnership of Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi at the back, as summer signing Rob Holding has found out the hard way, and his career may have stagnated should he have chosen to stay in Palace’s reserves.
It will be interesting to follow his progress at Lyon as he continues to develop, but given the circumstances of his departure, that a somewhat unexpected offer came with chances at Palace limited, there will be no hard feelings from either side over O’Brien should he end up succeeding in Ligue 1.
