Football London

Thomas Frank had plenty to say in his press conference after Tottenham won 2-0 at Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday.

City had most of the first half pressure in the opening half an hour or so but Spurs turned the game on its head on 35 minutes. Pape Matar Sarr headed on a Pedro Porro ball down the right into Richarlison's path and the Brazilian fired the ball across for Brennan Johnson to smash home with James Trafford only able to get a hand to it on its way in. The Wales international was flagged offside but VAR overruled that call on the pitch.

Tottenham's pressing then earned them a second goal before the break. City keeper James Trafford hit a short pass in his box that Sarr intercepted and while the goalkeeper managed to get a hand to the ball at Richarlison's feet, it went sideways for Joao Palhinha to smash home his first goal for the club.

City could not find a way back in the second half and it was the visitors who looked more likely to score with a string of chances for Richarlison, one for Dominic Solanke and two for Wilson Odobert as Spurs took home all three points and a clean sheet.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank after the game. Here's a full transcript from the press conference at the Etihad Stadium.

Another clean sheet, another three points, you must be delighted?

Thank you, yeah, very delighted. Extremely proud of the players' performance. I think it was an exceptionally good performance. I think the first 35 minutes, we know a couple of things, we know it's always difficult to play against City. Here at the Etihad it's even more difficult.

The first 35 minutes I thought was fairly even, but with City on top, I think they were more on top than us. There was a big mentality shift in terms of staying in the game and keep doing what we wanted to do, scoring a great goal. Maybe that changed a little bit of momentum, but we definitely stayed on top and went 2-0.

Second half, I think we were very good. The big spell where we could think that they would put pressure on us, I think we were very aggressive in the high pressure, that we were very front-footed, with the mindset to constantly go for the 3-0 goal.

And then, then I must say that the clean sheet makes me very happy. It's a big thing we've been working on, not on clean sheets as that's easier said than done, but on the defensive side of the game, high pressure, middle block, low block, defend the box mentality, blocking shots, everything.

Because if you get clean sheets you're closer to winning a game and also last year we had six clears, so yeah, that's very big for me.

So many good individual performances, but you've got Joao Palhinha in, scoring his first goal for the club, how important is that combination between him and Rodrigo Bentancur?

I think it's fair to say that we got a few questions about the transfer market yesterday, a lot about why not and what if and all that. What is 100% sure we brought two top players into the club, Kudos and Palhinha, both of them have performed very well, which I'm very pleased with, and then Palhinha, yeah, wow, you know, sometimes players need confidence and they need to be on top and I don't think he's fully fit yet, where I want him to be, but very pleased with his performance and he's definitely helping the team.

You were 2-0 up in the Super Cup but held on this time, what were the lessons learned?

I referenced it at half-time. When you’re tired keep going. That was one thing. Two that we had to keep being brave on the ball. Three that we had to keep being good in the high pressure. But also that’s easier said than done. But from every game you learn. From games where you don’t get the result you want, you learn maybe even more. And then I think in some ways of course the other thing was a foul, this was away at the Etihad. One of the most difficult places to go to. But the defensive principles are more and more and then I think the mentality is the key thing. You need mentality to win games like this.

You spoke yesterday about for each match you compile three key themes or principles, what were the three today?

Defensive side of the game, be brave in phase one and two and set pieces.

Did you use the Eze thing as inspiration this week or just not mention it at all?

I think that's very, very easy [to answer]. I never ever use one word about any player that's not at our club.

I think it was Jurgen Klopp who said there's no better playmaker in football than an effective press essentially, what do you make of that statement?

Yeah it was good, he was a clever man. I need to text him and say 'hey, that's awfully clever'. I definitely believe in the aggressive press as you saw today, as you saw with my Brentford team, you know, I believe in the high pressure. I believe in if we can be front footed. I like that mentality. I think it's offensive, you know, it's a more offensive way of defending and then it's more fun to defend in the opponent's half, and of course today I think we were very successful also to score a goal from it.

With Sarr in that position does he bring that effective pressing in that central role?

Yeah, definitely and you say there's a few things. It depends from game to game, players in different positions, systems, but today he was very good like the rest of the team. I think it was difficult to pick one player today. I think everyone performed fantastically.

For the first goal, you managed to beat the Man City offside trap, and it seemed to cause a lot of uncertainty, putting the ball over the top, is that something that you pinpointed to exploit?

Yeah we talked about the high line, and one thing is to talk about it and try to train it. It's never that easy. So to be fair, I think we ran into offside six times before that. So of course the goal looks very successful and that's what we look at. Well there's a few times where we didn't do it well enough, but yes, of course, we tried to do it.

You were here a couple of years ago with an outstanding performance from your Brentford team, was this performance even better given that you've only just started to put your fingerprint on this Spurs side?

I think it's two different teams, two different contexts, but I think that both performances were top and both performances, when I look back at them, I'll be very proud of.

You said you had quite a lot of questions about the transfer market in the build-up to this game, but is this performance a timely reminder that the success of a season, the success of a team is not just about what you can do in a transfer market and the players you can bring in?

Yeah, I think it's extremely important that, a couple of things that we understand we have a good group of players, a talented group players, a group of good quality players that I'm very pleased with. So that's why we brought in two good players to help. Can we improve it? Perfect. If we can't, you know, then we have very good players and we just showed that today, so yeah, very happy with that.

Tottenham won 2-0 at Manchester City in the Premier League's Saturday lunchtime game and here are our Spurs player ratings.

Spurs boss Thomas Frank stuck with the 4-2-3-1 he used in the 3-0 opening weekend win against Burnley, albeit with some personnel changes in the centre of the pitch. Without a playmaker after the failure to sign Eberechi Eze, Tottenham again turned to Pape Matar Sarr in the role playing between Mohammed Kudus and Brennan Johnson. Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha came back into the side and Richarlison kept his place ahead of Dominic Solanke following his two goals against Burnley.

City had most of the first half pressure but Spurs scored on 35 minutes. Sarr headed on a Pedro Porro ball down the right into Richarlison's path and the Brazilian fired the ball across for Brennan to smash home with James Trafford only able to get a hand to it on its way in. The Wales international was flagged offside but VAR overruled that call on the pitch.

Tottenham's pressing then earned a second goal before the break. City keeper James Trafford hit a short pass in his box that Sarr intercepted and while the goalkeeper managed to get a hand to the ball at Richarlison's feet, it fell for Joao Palhinha to smash home his first goal for the club.

It was Spurs who had the better chances in the second half, including late efforts from Dominic Solanke and Wilson Odobert as well as a few Richarlison headed efforts, while City struggled to create much.

Here are our Tottenham player ratings from the match:

Guglielmo Vicario

Had to make a couple of interventions in the opening 20 minutes, including pushing away Marmoush's effort from the edge of the box. Made a terrific save to deny the same player in a one-vs-one situation before the half-hour mark. Had less to do in the second half but he's laid the foundations for the clean sheet. 8

Pedro Porro

Sent a shot into the side-netting after his free-kick hit the wall and moments later undercooked a header back to Vicario that resulted in Marmoush firing an effort across the face of goal. Curled the ball up the pitch to Sarr in the build-up to Spurs' first half goal and put in some great crosses in the second half that Richarlison should have done better with. Made a great run in the 86th minutes before releasing Bergvall in a move that led to an Odobert chance. Other than that weak header in the first half, the Spaniard was superb. 9

Cristian Romero

The captain made so many blockbuster challenges and really led by example from the back. Picked up a ridiculous yellow card for a perfect tackle. 9

Micky van de Ven

Got away with what looked like a penalty missed for catching Bobb on the foot early in the second half. Made a brilliant sliding block to deny Foden from scoring with about 12 minutes to go. Another terrific display alongside Romero. 8

Djed Spence

Showed a great engine like Porro to get up and down the flank, linking up well with Johnson at times. Was still running in the final moments. 8

Rodrigo Bentancur

If composure had a name it would be Rodrigo Bentancur. So unflappable in the Spurs midfield and the go-to outlet for the defence in tight spots. 8

Joao Palhinha

A constant huge presence in the centre of the pitch, looking much sharper and fitter now. Fired home his first goal for the club when the ball fell his way in the box before the break. So little got past him. He's going to be such a big signing for Spurs. 9

Mohammed Kudus

So strong and a great outlet down the right whenever Spurs needed to get out. City just couldn't really deal with him. 8

Pape Matar Sarr

Headed on the ball to Richarlison in the build-up to Spurs' first half goal and pressed well in the build-up to the second. He's a machine and he's going to become a star in this set-up. 9

Brennan Johnson

Goals in back-to-back games with his low finish from Richarlison's ball, making it back to back goals at the Etihad. Worked so hard as he grew in confidence, occasionally dropping deeper and spraying some passes around as well as tracking back. One of those performances where he did far more than simply score even if he had one shot that should have been a pass in a Spurs break. 8

Richarlison

Battled from the off and grabbed an assist with a perfect pass across for Johnson. Was involved in a lot of the good things Spurs did, including the pressing for the second goal. Had a hat-trick of second half headers that he needed to get on target. 8

Subs

Dominic Solanke

Had a late shot saved and kept City on their toes. 7

Wilson Odobert

Sent one shot wide and had his header following up Solanke's shot saved. Kept stretching the defence. 7

Lucas Bergvall

Came on in the final 10 minutes and set up Odobert for a good chance. 7

Kevin Danso

Thomas Frank is speaking to reporters after Tottenham won 2-0 at Manchester City in the Premier League's Saturday lunchtime game and here are our Spurs player ratings.

City had most of the first half pressure but Spurs scored on 35 minutes. Sarr headed on a Pedro Porro ball down the right into Richarlison's path and the Brazilian fired the ball across for Brennan to smash home with James Trafford only able to get a hand to it on its way in. The Wales international was flagged offside but VAR overruled that call on the pitch.

Tottenham's pressing then earned a second goal before the break. City keeper James Trafford hit a short pass in his box that Pape Matar Sarr intercepted and while the goalkeeper managed to get a hand to the ball at Richarlison's feet, it fell for Joao Palhinha to smash home his first goal for the club.

City could not find a way back in the second half and it was the visitors who looked more likely to score as they took home all three points and a clean sheet.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Frank after the game. Scroll down for his latest updates from the press conference at the Etihad Stadium.

Thomas Frank has named his Tottenham team to take on Manchester City in the Premier League's Saturday lunchtime game.

Spurs kicked off their league campaign last weekend with the 3-0 win against Scott Parker's promoted Burnley side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a double from Richarlison, including a spectacular bicycle kick, and a killer goal from Brennan Johnson. The north London outfit now take on a very different challenge in Pep Guardiola's side, who have spent big this summer in trying to challenge Liverpool to wrestle their league crown back.

Frank has not decided to return to the 3-5-2 formation that served Spurs well in the UEFA Super Cup game against PSG for 85 minutes or so earlier this month. Instead he has stuck with the 4-2-3-1 used against Burnley, albeit with some personnel changes in the centre of the pitch.

Without a playmaker right now after the failure to sign Eberechi Eze, Tottenham again turn to Pape Matar Sarr playing between Mohammed Kudus and Brennan Johnson.

Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha formed a strong pairing in midfield against PSG and it was when the latter had to come off due to his fitness levels in Italy that Spurs' system went awry so the experienced duo are paired together again. Richarlison keeps his place ahead of Dominic Solanke.

Here's the Tottenham team that Frank has selected:

Tottenham Hotspur could still have time to strike a deal for Savinho after Pep Guardiola admitted he is unsure about the future of several Manchester City players ahead of the transfer window closing on September 1.

The Europa League winners were reported to have opened talks with City over a deal for the 21-year-old earlier this month.

Fabrizio Romano claims that after Spurs ' first approach for the Brazilian was rejected by the City hierarchy earlier this week, though the North Londoners are willing to table a bid in the region of £60m to try and lure Savinho to North London before the window closes on Monday week.

On Friday, Guardiola admitted that he is unsure about the future of several first-team players, seemingly referencing the Brazilian and his team-mates Nathan Ake and Ederson, who have also been linked with moves away from the Etihad this summer.

“To be honest, I don’t know what is happening with a few players – I don’t know who is coming, who is staying, who is leaving, I don’t know," said Guardiola.

“All the clubs I had the feeling that it is the same, we are not an exception. Because the agents make the roles, the club have their opinions, the players have theirs, and after that we see what happens.”

Spurs are in the market for attacking reinforcements after missing out on the signing of Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze.

Savinho, meanwhile, joined Manchester City from fellow City Football Group outfit Troyes last July in a deal worth roughly £30m.

After making the move to the Etihad, though, the Brazilian struggled to nail down a regular spot in City's starting XI and started 21 Premier League games last term.

The Brazilian has four years remaining on his current deal at the Etihad.

Tottenham Hotspur are back in action for their first away game of the new Premier League season as they travel to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.

Spurs take on Pep Guardiola's side in the early kick-off on Saturday looking to build on their opening weekend 3-0 victory at home against Burnley under new head coach Thomas Frank. City will provide a very different kind of test at the Etihad Stadium with the hosts having spent plenty of money in the transfer market this summer in an attempt to reclaim the Premier League title from Liverpool.

Tottenham have struggled to reinforce their squad with Thomas Frank admitting to football.london on Friday that with the arrivals of new faces in Mohammed Kudus and Joao Palhinha being offset by the exit of Son Heung-min and James Maddison's ACL injury, his squad is similar in terms of numbers to the one he inherited before the transfer window opened.

He still believes in the players he has though and after playing well against PSG in the UEFA Super Cup earlier this month the Dane is hopeful that Spurs can put in a similar display against City, only with a more positive result after that penalty shoot-out defeat in Udine.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is at the Etihad Stadium covering the match. Scroll down for his latest updates from the Premier League clash in Manchester.

Tottenham take on Manchester City in the Premier League's Saturday lunchtime game and Thomas Frank has some decisions to make.

Spurs began their league season well with the 3-0 victory against promoted Burnley last weekend at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a brace from Richarlison and another goal from Brennan Johnson. They will face a very different threat though in the shape of Pep Guardiola's side, who have spent big money this summer in trying to challenge Liverpool to wrestle their league crown back.

Frank could decide to return to the 3-5-2 formation that served Spurs so well in the UEFA Super Cup game against PSG for 85 minutes or so.

Without a playmaker right now after the failure to sign Eberechi Eze, Tottenham will instead use their runners and the combination of Richarlison and Mohammed Kudus up front worked well in Udine with Pape Matar Sarr behind them and able to slot back into the midfield when required. Dominic Solanke will be fitter and sharper now but the Brazilian has earned the right to remain up front with his previous two performances and those goals against Burnley.

Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha formed a strong base in midfield and it was when the latter had to come off due to his fitness levels in Italy that Spurs' system went awry so the experienced duo are likely to be paired together again.

Frank was asked about playing with a back three against City and said: "I treat every game a little bit different, but it’s definitely in my mind the 3-5-2, it’s definitely in my mind the 4-2-3-1 and I will take a decision on what we do and you’ll see that tomorrow. I am always thinking hmm how can we tweak a little bit inside our principles.

"Then of course the system can give us something, but principles are the most important thing. So, yeah I will be pragmatic, I will use different systems and different ways to win football matches."

Having Kevin Danso in a back three also allows Spurs to continue to utilise the Austrian's powerful, flat long throw-ins that caused PSG all kinds of problems and they could do the same for City.

Here's the Tottenham team that we reckon Frank could select.

Tottenham have an awful lot of work to do in the transfer market with time quickly starting to run out. Thomas Frank's team are in need of a new centre-back, left winger and No.10 before the window closes for business at 7pm on Monday, September 1.

At a time when clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea did the bulk of their business in good time ahead of the new Premier League season, Spurs are going to be facing another last-minute dash to bring in the players they require. As things stand right now, Tottenham have signed Mohammed Kudus, Kota Takai and Joao Palhinha for the new season, with Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel turning their previous loan moves into permanent transfers, and Luka Vuskovic has finally become a Tottenham player almost two years on from the club striking a deal with Hajduk Split.

The Morgan Gibbs-White transfer saga was a major blow to Tottenham in their search for a new No.10. They were then to be a hit by a further bombshell after a move for Eberechi Eze fell apart after north London rivals Arsenal launched a late move for the England international just as he appeared to be signing on in N17.

The failure to sign Eze has not gone down well with the fanbase and that leaves Daniel Levy and Johan Lange with a huge challenge going into the final days of the window as they attempt to lift the current doom and gloom. As important as it is that Tottenham get players in through the door to solve those three positions they are looking to add to, they need to remember what Ange Postecoglou said in his final press conference as head coach.

"If we do some good business in the transfer market, obviously bring some experience in, I'm not talking about age, I'm talking about players who have played at this level and can help the team, then I've got no doubt we can make the impact we want," he said after the 4-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign.

He added: "Yeah, I think not just us but any club that gets into the Champions League, I think understands that. It's the most elite competition in Europe and it's a great demand.

"So yeah, I think every club that gets into the Champions League sees it as an opportunity to strengthen with experience is the right word, but players who have played at that level, who are going to be comfortable at that level, not players who are stepping up to that level. That's the difference."

Tottenham's team is rather youthful with players such as Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall only having one season of Premier League football to their name. Adding that experience to the playing group is going to be vital as the Lilywhites look to climb up the Premier League table and also go far in the cup competitions.

Amid the disappointment of missing out on Eze, Spurs have been linked with a couple of transfer alternatives as they look to bring in a new attacking midfielder. Nico Paz of Como has been mentioned, with football.london reporting earlier in the month that the club do have an interest in the 20-year-old.

The Argentina international is a very promising player but he has only played 44 senior club games in his young career. Whether he could come in and make an immediate impact due to a lack of experience remains to be seen.

Monaco attacking midfielder Maghnes Akliouche has also found himself in the headlines regarding a move to Tottenham. The Frenchman has made a name for himself for the Ligue 1 side in the past couple of seasons and so far has 97 Monaco appearances to his name.

Ten of those have come in the Champions League, with the 23-year-old scoring in wins over Barcelona and Red Star Belgrade last season. Akliouche is more experienced than Paz and now it is down to Tottenham whether they move for either of the duo or look elsewhere.

Experience is needed in what remains of the transfer market and the answer should not be signing promising youngsters who can develop into major players for the club in the years ahead. Transfers are needed at Tottenham and what comes next is going to be fascinating.

Thomas Frank has explained that Richarlison knocked on his door on the Dane's first day with the Tottenham players in pre-season and told him he wanted to stay at the club.

The Brazilian has started the season in fine form, with impressive performances against both PSG and Burnley in the past couple of weeks, the latter game bringing two goals including an acrobatic scissors kick. However, Richarlison's injury problems over the years have always brought his future at Spurs into question and reports this week claimed that he was included in the negotiations for the failed move for Eberechi Eze.

Frank had earlier stated that he wanted Richarlison to remain at the club and he went further in explaining what the forward did on their first day together at Hotspur Way.

"Day one he came in and knocked on my door and said 'I want to stay'. I said 'good, I like you, I think you’re a good player, perfect, let’s crack on'," said the Tottenham head coach. "He’s been working very hard, very committed, gym, on the pitch, he has trained every session. There was one game we took him out of because of the injury history.

"We know we need to be very aware of that to build him, thin layers, one step at a time, taking good decisions, do our best to try to take good decisions, but I see a very committed player."

The move for Eze ended in failure when Arsenal entered the equation and after the complicated and ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White the previous month, it is another high profile transfer miss by the club, something that has dogged them over the years with certain major targets.

When that background was put to Frank, the Spurs boss said: "I would say first I don’t know the history. Of course I’m reading a little bit and I’ve been briefed pretty well about the story that may have been something, but I can’t really look too much into that. What is happening with potential transfers or not potential transfers or rumours or not rumours, that of course either way I will keep for myself.

"What I can see is that we are working very hard. Also what I know is that it's not that easy, in general, when you want to sign a player. I can speak from experience in Brentford, I can speak about that, where we also wanted to sign players. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we didn’t. There’s a lot of moving parts. There’s the players, the families, the agents, there’s the club that wants to sell. So in general terms it makes it complicated."

So did he expect signing players to be an easier ordeal than at Brentford, where the Bees missed out on a number of players to bigger clubs, including some to Tottenham recently like Archie Gray and Brennan Johnson?

"If I'm honest no. It's the same problems, you just have a few more quid to spend. Same problems, same challenges, it's just a different bracket," said the Dane.

"It’s not too different [in the processes]. The big thing I don’t know here and I didn’t know at Brentford what was actually happening when they were negotiating. So that’s the same in both places you don’t know anything about unless you’re sitting in that room.

"I only did that once, a very good story, at Brentford....and that is for another time over a beer when there are no cameras. But it’s very good!

"Both places have good processes. Both places have good recruitment strategies. We all can see what Johan [Lange] and Rob [Mackenzie] have done here at Tottenham. There’s a lot of similarities to what Lee [Dykes] and his team did at Brentford, and then the working process in terms of how we decide players is good. We need there to be cooperation between the key stakeholders and then we need to take good decisions."

Tottenham's failures in the market, with Frank admitting to football.london on Friday that he had a similar squad to the one he started the transfer window with, mean they will have to try to do some big business late in the window when selling clubs are less likely to part with their players for fear of being unable to replace them.

So is there a danger now that Spurs make some wrong decisions through panic in order to try to change the narrative of them being strugglers in the market?

"I think in any transfer we need to do or will do or have done, it's very rare you feel 100 per cent sure, because you're always aiming for that perfect player, there are very few perfect players," said Frank. "In any position, we need to be confident in what we want and you can say when the clock is ticking down there can be a danger, but I think it's as key we can't be sloppy and take a bad decision at the beginning of the transfer window, so I think it's the same focus."

The pressure on Spurs has been ramped up this season by the sacking of Ange Postecoglou soon after the club's first trophy in 17 years and then chairman Daniel Levy saying that Europa League triumph was not enough and that he wanted the club to win the Premier League and Champions League.

"If I'm honest I'm not thinking too much about it," said Frank when asked about the chairman's declaration. "There will be a winner of the Premier League in what nine months. So far away. I'm focusing on one thing, go up to Manchester, do my very best to win and get three points and after that I'll focus on the next game."

The struggles in the transfer market and those high profile misses have changed the mood around the Tottenham fanbase and it's something Frank's predecessor Postecoglou spoke about, how quickly the whole feeling around the north London club can change after a disappointment.

"You’re speaking about the fans, I guess," said Frank when asked about trying to lift the mood. "I don’t read anything of that so I don’t know, but of course you guys are telling me. I guess that’s part of it.

"I think how we can lift the mood is good performances and winning on the pitch. That’s the key thing. Of course we all want as good an achievement and a squad as possible. As I’ve said many times, I think we’ve got a good exciting squad. Let’s see what will happen in the next eight/nine days."

He added: "I think I am too positive a guy. I’m not saying I can’t be, how can you say, either overwhelmed or whatever, but right now we’ve had two good performances. We lost on a penalty shoot-out so we haven’t actually lost a game yet.

"We’ve got two good players in. Kudus has been exceptional. Palhinha will be very good for us. We’re going to Manchester tomorrow. I have a big belief we can do something. Big respect for the best team in England for the last five out of six years or whatever. So I’m quite positive."

Frank does not get carried away by the modern obsession with transfer news and he believes that helps him not sway between the extremes of emotion.

"That’s the good thing about not reading anything. Of course I’m aware if you guys are saying it but if you don’t read it, you don’t get the same feeling," said the Dane. "That’s one thing. Then hopefully we are going to win all of our matches but as I said in the first meeting, we will probably lose some matches and there will be tough days.

"Right now there are more positive things I’m looking into. No matter if we are winning games or losing games, or signing 10 new players or not signing 10 new players, I need to focus on the day-to-day job. I need to make sure we train well, have fantastic meetings, top recoveries and have all the processes in place to do my best so we can help the signings and players. That’s my job and that’s what I’ll try to do."

Morgan Gibbs-White has revealed that complications with his fiancee's pregnancy were a contributing factor behind his decision to reject a move to Tottenham and remain at Nottingham Forest.

Gibbs-White, 25, was at the centre of a tense transfer battle earlier this summer when Tottenham tried to bring him to north London. Thomas Frank's side triggered the £60million release clause in his contract, but Forest took issue and claimed that Spurs made an illegal approach for the England international.

Forest felt that confidential details of the release clause's exact amount were breached and the club's board proceeded to end all communication with Tottenham regarding Gibbs-White.

Gibbs-White continued to train and feature for Forest in pre-season before making a dramatic U-Turn and signing a new bumper three-year contract at The City Ground. His decision to turn down a chance of Champions League football raised plenty of eyebrows, but now he has explained why he made that choice.

Discussing this time, he told talkSPORT: "Every footballer has personal goals and personal ambitions that they want to achieve. Mine is winning trophies, playing in the World Cup, playing in the Euros, playing Champions League football, just to be able to reach the maximum that I'm able to reach.

"Obviously in the summer, everybody's seen what was going on and whatever."

Gibbs-White continued: "But away from that, it was a really difficult period for me and my fiancee. Having my second child, but there were a few complications with all of that.

"I believed in being professional, showing up every day and letting everything else take care of what it needs to do. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I'm delighted with my decision, more than happy. I think my fiancee is even more happy because she didn't get to carry on with all the stress."

Since Gibbs-White's £25million plus add-ons move to Forest in 2022, he has established himself as one of the most sought-after attacking midfielders in the Premier League. Last season, the former Wolves and Sheffield United man scored seven goals and added eight assists in 34 top-flight appearances.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side finished the campaign in seventh - the club's highest in 30 years - and qualified for the Europa League after Crystal Palace were booted out of Europe's second-tier competition for breaching UEFA multi-club ownership rules. The Reds are set to enter at the league phase next month.

"With everything that happened this summer, it was like it hit home a bit," Gibbs-White explained. I've been through a lot with this club these past three years, and to feel like I was going to miss out on what we achieved last season sort of broke me a little bit.

"And I wanted to go through this next stage with Forest and play Europa League football with them, because me and a few others were the ones that, three years ago we came in, this was our goal to stay in the league and try and push up."

Gibbs-White added: "It's a home from home, so I sort of had that broken-hearted feeling, like when you split with your first childhood girlfriend."