Morgan Gibbs-White wants his switch to Tottenham Hotspur finalised quickly, but the transfer is on hold after Nottingham Forest launched a legal challenge against the London club, while Fabrizio Romano has dropped a telling update.
Spurs triggered the 25-year-old’s £60million release clause, before Forest claimed it was an ‘illegal approach’, and said they would consult their lawyers after concerns of a confidentiality breach relating to the player’s release clause.
Forest now considers the transfer ‘off’ after reporting Tottenham to the Premier League, though Thomas Frank’s side maintains that they have done nothing wrong.
Gibbs-White has since returned to pre-season training with Forest, and according to The Daily Mail, cited by The Mirror, he is still ‘eager’ to join Tottenham, and ‘held talks with Forest officials at the club’s training ground on Monday and now wants clarity over where he will be playing his football next season.’
The report claims that Gibbs-White is ‘hopeful’ the move will finally be completed by the end of the weekend, and wants things tied up before Forest jet off for their pre-season tour of Portugal.
However, ‘the ball is in Tottenham’s court’, per the report, as despite paying Gibbs-White’s release clause, they are considering increasing their offer to £65million to change Forest’s minds.
Gibbs-White, for his part, has shown ‘exemplary’ attitude in training and will travel to Portugal with Forest should a deal not be agreed with Tottenham in the next few days.
Tottenham’s ‘perfect plan’ has failed
Tottenham certainly won’t give up on Gibbs-White and journalist Fabrizio Romano has insisted that they ‘remain confident’ of reaching a deal.
“”Nottingham Forest are not happy at all with their approach for the player. They mentioned that was not something they expected from Tottenham,” Romano told GiveMeSport.
“Also, how they directly approached the player to inform him about the medical and all the formal steps without having any formal exchange with Nottingham Forest has led to a situation that is quite tense between the two clubs. The medical was booked on Friday last week.
“Now, Tottenham remain confident about their chances of signing the player. But, obviously, now this is a legal topic. They need to have discussions directly with Nottingham Forest to find the solution.
“Of course, it changes the timing of the deal. Tottenham’s perfect plan was probably to sign Kudus and Gibbs-White in 24 or 48 hours. It is now going to take a bit longer, but they remain intent on signing the player.
“That is still their plan, so let’s see how it continues on the legal side. But, for sure, Tottenham still want Morgan Gibbs-White.”
Gibbs-White notched seven goals and 10 assists for Forest in the Premier League last term and could compete with James Maddison for the attacking midfield spot in the Tottenham starting XI.
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