Nottingham Forest are looking set to lose another of their top stars in Morgan Gibbs-White, with Tottenham advancing in their pursuit of the Englishman.
Gibbs-White to Tottenham is looking likely as Thomas Frank’s admiration for the midfielder has very quickly turned into serious interest.
It looked as if the midfield maestro would remain at the City Ground this summer after Manchester City chose other targets over Gibbs-White, but the hammer blow of Tottenham’s advances has seemingly put an end to that hope.
To make matters worse, unlike the negotiations for the Anthony Elanga sale, there look to be no stumbling blocks in the way of Tottenham’s pursuit.
Tottenham take major steps to secure Morgan Gibbs-White
It looked as if Forest would be able to demand a monumental fee for Gibbs-White after the Elanga sale removed any need to cash in, but reports are now suggesting that Evangelos Marinakis is powerless to resist Spurs’ bid.
According to The Telegraph, Spurs have discovered that Gibbs-White has a £60m release clause in his Forest contract, putting the power in Daniel Levy’s hands.
The report said: “Tottenham Hotspur are ready to trigger Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White’s £60 million release clause.
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“Telegraph Sport understands that Tottenham are confident of agreeing a deal to sign the 25-year-old England international after it emerged he has a clause written into the contract he signed in August 2022.
“[…] Talks are ongoing between the two clubs, but Tottenham do not anticipate any issues.”
A sucker-punch for Nuno Espírito Santo in particular, the deal will continue to advance at pace as a key next step in Gibbs-White’s exit is already in place.
Gibbs-White will have his Tottenham medical on Friday
With a release clause involved, it removes the majority of the complications involved in a transfer and allows a club to advance quickly to dealing with the player.
This has clearly benefited Tottenham, as they have already booked Gibbs-White’s medical as the transfer nears official confirmation.
Given that Gibbs-White showed no interest in entering contract talks, Forest had no hope of removing the release clause retrospectively, but must be rueing its presence in the original 2022 contract.