This summer’s comedy transfer is likely to be announced well before the window closes, due to the outstanding nature of Evangelos Marinakis’s complaint, which is now officially lodged with the Premier League.
In a nutshell, it appears that without communicating with Nottingham Forest directly, Tottenham rocked up to Marinakis, and essentially said, ‘Hi, we’d like to meet Gibbs-White’s release clause and how would you like the money paid?’
Now, to know the clause amount, and indeed to have the willingness of the player to transfer to Spurs, more than suggests that Nottingham Forest had been cut out of the loop.
Such a confidentiality breach was undoubtedly caused by the player himself or his agents, so that’s where the issue stems from. As far as a legal redress, Evangelos is frankly wishing.
A source tells TheBoyHotspur that it’s simply a tantrum, and his legal team is trying to break it to him gently that he’s essentially behaving in a somewhat irrational manner, even if the law is technically on his side.
Yes, Mr Marinakis could demand that either the player stay or that THFC pays Nottingham Forest more money, but both of those outcomes seem unlikely to work in reality.
The reality of all football transfer shenanigans these days is that slavery was abolished in this country in 1833, so all that might come Forest’s way are a few extra pounds in compensation. The cold truth is that a player cannot be forced to play for Nottingham Forest, or indeed anyone.
One suspects the chairman may relent, but only after he’s had his say, which, given his recent on-pitch outburst with former Spurs gaffer, Nuno Espírito Santo, may be quite a wordy riposte.
Tottenham needs to get Morgan on their preseason tour, and the sooner a compromise can be struck, the better for all concerned.
As for Spurs, Daniel Levy may wish to have a closer look at exactly how the discussions with Gibbs-White were undertaken and establish the veracity of any claims. Spurs have faced similar issues in the past with the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Luka Modrić, and so it is unlikely claims of naivety will be taken very seriously.