/https://sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net/uploads/2025/07/imago1062165701-1-687a6b79e14dc630094561.jpg "\"A really stressful time\": Forest star Gibbs-White speaks on - Sports Mole")
Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White has suggested that he found it difficult to focus on football during a period where he nearly joined Tottenham Hotspur.
After playing an influential role in Forest earning European football for 2024-25, Gibbs-White was naturally linked with some of the Premier League's biggest clubs.
However, it was Spurs who made the boldest move for the England international, believing that they could activate the release clause of the playmaker and quickly wrap up a deal.
Instead, Forest threatened legal action over the method in which Spurs went about establishing terms over a potential transfer before Gibbs-White eventually signed a new long-term contract.
Gibbs-White is now attempting to star under, coincidentally, former Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, who recently replaced Nuno Espirito Santo as Forest head coach.
Gibbs-White acknowledge "stressful" Spurs saga
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Forest's Europa League fixture against FC Midtjylland, Gibbs-White was quizzed on the matter.
In response to a reporter, the 25-year-old revealed that the period had coincided with the birth of his newborn son, adding to the complexity of the situation.
He said, as quoted by BBC Sport: "A really stressful time, for me personally and my family. There was a lot of things that happened behind the scenes in my personal life that was difficult to really focus on.
"I found it difficult to focus on football at that moment when that was going on.
"Your family is everything and you have to put them first. That's a decision I made, I had to put them first and that was being with my wife and my newborn son.
"That was what happened in the summer and I made sure my full focus and full concentration was with them."
How has Gibbs-White performed this season?
Gibbs-White is currently part of a Forest team that have failed to win a single game since overcoming Brentford on the opening weekend of the season.
He has provided two assists during that time, including during the 2-2 draw at Real Betis in the Europa League last week.
His Forest record now reads 18 goals and 30 assists from 126 appearances in all competitions, Gibbs-White also now on a contract until 2028.