Nottingham Forest were reeling over potentially losing Morgan Gibbs-White, but a shock update has left the deal with Tottenham Hotspur hanging in the balance.
Tottenham activated Gibbs-White’s £60m release clause on Thursday in a deal that caught the football world off guard, with the clause seemingly unknown until the news broke.
Since then, reports have suggested that Evangelos Marinakis is furious over the Gibbs-White situation, aiming his anger at his former recruitment team, who sanctioned the release clause back in 2022.
Nottingham Forest News understood that James McAtee was open to a move to Forest as Gibbs-White’s replacement, but a shock curveball has changed the situation completely.
Nottingham Forest consult lawyers as Morgan Gibbs-White to Tottenham hangs in the balance
Gibbs-White was due to have his medical at Tottenham on Friday, but the situation has been turned on its head as Forest now believe that Spurs’ approach for the midfielder was handled unlawfully.
According to Rob Dorsett of Sky Sports, the deal is currently off as it stands, with Forest disputing the legality of Spurs’ approach for Gibbs-White.
Given that it was a release clause that was triggered, it would seem that the deal would be as simple as Spurs paying the clause and beginning discussions with Gibbs-White, but Sky Sports are reporting that it is the disclosure of the clause itself that Marinakis has taken particular issue with.
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Nottingham Forest claim ‘breach of confidentiality’ surrounding Morgan Gibbs-White’s release clause
As previously mentioned, the £60m clause had not been reported on until Spurs’ bid, emphasised by the fact that Forest were asking for £100m for Gibbs-White when Manchester City were chasing his signature.
To this point, Sky Sports understands that the means by which Spurs were able to find out about this clause is what Forest have a particular issue with.
The report said: “Forest believe that there has also been a breach of confidentiality around his release clause because Tottenham’s bid was pitched at exactly that level.”
At the very least, the Gibbs-White deal is delayed as Forest prepare a complaint to send to the Premier League, but it remains unclear as to whether the club is able to block Spurs from signing the Englishman.