Football London

Morgan Gibbs-White has committed his future to Nottingham Forest by putting pen to paper on a new three-year contract.

The 25-year-old was set for a move to Tottenham Hotspur after they triggered the midfielder’s £60million release clause, but the transfer stalled earlier this month. Forest are considering legal action against Spurs over an alleged illegal approach for Gibbs-White, who moved to the City Ground from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2022.

But in a move that ends any hope of Spurs landing the England international this summer, Forest have now confirmed that Gibbs-White has signed a new three-year contract with the club until the summer of 2028.

“Nottingham Forest is delighted to confirm that Morgan Gibbs-White has signed a new three-year contract with the Club until the summer of 2028,” a statement from the club read.

“A central figure in Forest’s Premier League resurgence and a fan favourite at the City Ground, Gibbs-White has underlined his long-term commitment to the Club by agreeing to fresh terms.

“The deal underlines the ambition of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, whose vision for European success and sustained Premier League progress continues to shape the club's future.”

Reacting to the new deal, Gibbs-White said: "I’ve felt at home at Forest from the moment I arrived. The support from the fans, my teammates, and everyone around the club has been unbelievable.

“I believe in what we're building here – and with the backing of Mr Marinakis and the enormous ambition he has, I want to be part of making something special. I’m excited for what’s to come."

While Evangelos Marinakis said: "Morgan is a special player – not just in terms of talent, but character and mentality.

“He represents everything we want this football club to be: he is a winner, talented, ambitious, fearless, and proud.

“There was significant interest from various clubs, but we were determined to build our future with Morgan at the heart of it.

“I promised our fans we would not only compete, but grow stronger and stronger every season. Today is another big step in that journey."

Nottingham Forest are reportedly in talks with Morgan Gibbs-White about signing a new contract. The 25-year-old was set for a move to Tottenham Hotspur after they triggered the midfielder’s £60million release clause, but the transfer stalled earlier this month.

Forest are considering legal action against Spurs over an alleged illegal approach for Gibbs-White, who moved to the City Ground from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2022 and still has two years left on his Forest contract.

However, according to The Athletic, Forest are now in talks with Gibbs-White about signing a new contract.

Gibbs-White joined Forest for £25m in the summer of 2022 following their promotion to the Premier League and was instrumental in delivering European football to Forest for the first time since 1996, with seven goals and eight assists in 34 Premier League games.

The England international was on Manchester City’s radar earlier this summer, but Pep Guardiola’s side moved on to different targets.

Speaking earlier this month, new Spurs boss Thomas Frank was tight-lipped on his club’s pursuit of Gibbs-White.

“I will not speak about players who are not mine,” he said. I think I have two exceptions and they are getting older – (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi. The rest I will just speak about the players who are inside Tottenham.”

Thomas Frank has been speaking after taking charge of two Tottenham pre-season matches on Saturday.

Spurs had a double header of games starting with a 2-2 draw against Wycombe Wanderers in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Hotspur Way in the morning. Two goals from Pape Matar Sarr and a brace from Wycombe's Armando Quitirna ensured the spoils were shared at the training ground.

Then in the second game against another League One opponent in Luton Town, another Tottenham starting XI huffed and puffed with little quality in a dull 0-0 draw at Kenilworth Road.

While there was no press conference after the game, Frank did take part in a club interview and here's every word he said on various topics, including injuries to Dominic Solanke and Destiny Udogie which kept the duo out of the game at Luton, with the latter named in the team sheet only to be replaced by academy product Jamie Donley before kick-off.

What did you make of the day?

Overall, okay, happy. I would say the big take away on the positive side is that we got more or less 75 minutes into most of the players – that was the reason why we played two mixed teams and subbed on all the youngsters at the end of both games. So, the physical, minute-wise – box ticked. I’m happy with that.

What can you take from the Wycombe game?

With the Wycombe game, positives, I felt the high pressure and regaining of the ball was very successful in many ways throughout the game. We regained it I don’t know how many times, but we created six, seven very dangerous situations where we should have done even more and scored a good second goal through Pape.

Also, in the first minutes, Wycombe’s runs in behind were good, so we were really focused on that. The big focus is that we defend well, and we gave away two goals we shouldn’t have given away against Wycombe, scored two good goals from Pape, who is another positive in that game.

What did you make of the performance against Luton?

The Luton game, that was the game where I felt, ‘okay, there is a bit to be worked on’. That was two mixed teams a little out of sync. The boys put everything into it, they were positive, heads down working hard, but those connections and relationships, they definitely weren’t fluent, but it’s good to have something to work on.

What's the latest on Dominic Solanke?

Dom has a minor ankle issue, nothing we’re worried about, just a precaution for today.

And Destiny Udogie?

Destiny felt something in the warm up, so, again, just a precaution, we just want to be on top of that.

And the tour up next?

Of course we're looking forward to going on the tour. It was a good day today, now home and a good night's sleep for everyone and then we're ready to go on tour and of course a fantastic game against Arsenal on Thursday.

How important is it to have this time away together?

I think it's extremely important [these eight days away together]. One thing is at the training ground where of course we get to know each other with meetings and double sessions, but now we'll have just a tiny bit more time where we can interact with the staff and players and the players and staff.

Tottenham's double header Saturday came to a close with a dull 0-0 draw at League One side Luton Town.

Thomas Frank had named two different starting line-ups for a morning game against Wycombe Wanderers and then the afternoon game at Kenilworth Road. Two goals from Pape Matar Sarr and a brace from Armando Quitirna ensured the spoils were shared in the morning training ground game against Wycombe.

For the match at Luton, there was a late change to the Tottenham line-up as Destiny Udogie was on the team sheet after travelling to Kenilworth Road but it was midfielder Jamie Donley who lined up at left-back, having played in that role the previous summer in pre-season.

Dominic Solanke missed out as a precautionary measure with a minor ankle injury, and the game came too soon for James Maddison after his return to full training this week. Kota Takai has not yet recovered from the knock that kept him out of the match at Reading last weekend and he turned up later in the game as an observer.

The game itself was lacking in chances for both sides as Tottenham struggled to overcome their lack of a number 10.

Here are our Spurs player ratings from the match at Kenilworth Road.

Guglielmo Vicario

Didn't have much to do in his first half stint other than keep possession with his feet which he mostly did. 6

Djed Spence

Started the game brightly but got very sloppy towards the end of the first half, presenting Alli with a chance after a misplaced pass along with a few lunging challenges to give away free-kicks around the Spurs box. 4

Kevin Danso

Solid enough without being particularly eye-catching. He was the first outfield player to come off after the hour mark. 6

Micky van de Ven

Handed the captain's armband in the second half and was probably one of Spurs' better players on the day although that's not saying much. 7

Jamie Donley

Drafted into the match at the last moment and slotted in at left-back, where he played last pre-season. He didn't always look comfortable and it was a waste of his skillset. He moved into the number 10 role for the final 15 minutes and Spurs looked slightly better for it. Had to play for the full 90 minutes as well as there were no more subs. 5

Yves Bissouma

Should be dominating games against League One sides but he never really got going. Just an average performance like many of his team-mates. 6

Archie Gray

His first minutes of pre-season and he looked rusty in the first half. Slightly better in the second half but he needs to be better if he's going to get midfield minutes in the weeks ahead. 4

Mohammed Kudus

Some flashes of inspiration and those remarkably quick feet but didn't have the end product to go with it on this occasion, hitting his one chance at a defender after Tel had put him through. 6

Mikey Moore

A tough day for the 17-year-old who barely touched the ball in the number 10 role. He came back on numerous occasions trying to get into the game but rarely did. 4

Brennan Johnson

Played down the left and struggled to make any real impact with some loose touches and running into defenders. 4

Mathys Tel

Brought his usual energy to the pitch but playing up top just doesn't really suit him as he roams around. Set up Kudus for a good chance and was at least trying to make things happen. 6

Subs

Antonin Kinsky

The Czech was called into action early after coming on in the second half, the first from Wells' powerful volley and the second from Alli's effort from out wide. Used his feet well after that. 7

Junai Byfield

A bright 25 minutes or so for the 16-year-old who never looked out of place and was confident in everything he did. 6

The late subs

Among the late changes, there were a couple of standout performers with both full-backs Rio Kyerematen, fresh from his new contract, and Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny doing well, and Will Lankshear sending a late shot across the face of goal.

Tottenham Hotspur opened their pre-season double header on Saturday with a 2-2 draw against League One side Wycombe Wanderers at their Enfield training ground.

Two goals from Pape Matar Sarr and a brace from Armando Quitirna ensured the spoils were shared in the second pre-season friendly of the Thomas Frank era. It was double header day with Spurs then travelling to Luton Town that afternoon for another Tottenham starting XI to take on a different League One outfit.

While that game at Kenilworth Road was played in front of a crowd, the first game against Wycombe was played behind closed doors at Hotspur Way on Saturday morning as Frank got a good look at a strong team that featured Brandon Austin, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Luka Vuskovic, Ben Davies, George Abbott, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr, Wilson Odobert, Richarlison and skipper Son Heung-min, with a bench full of youngsters.

Here are five things we noticed during the match at Hotspur Way.

Bentancur exit

There was a late change to the Tottenham line-up after it was published when Rodrigo Bentancur was deemed too ill to take part in the training ground friendly.

That meant 19-year-old George Abbott was drafted in to the midfield despite not being in the squad for this game originally.

The teenager gave a good account of himself with an energetic performance in the centre of the pitch and was leading the press often alongside Lucas Bergvall in the central duo.

The expectation is that Abbott will head out on loan this season after his successful spell at Doncaster Rovers but he will have left a good impression on Frank and the new coaches and will likely head out on the pre-season tour to Hong Kong and South Korea on Sunday if a loan move doesn't arise this weekend.

Sarr up top

Pape Matar Sarr showed his finishing ability in a role behind Richarlison during the game. With Frank setting up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the Senegal international played between captain Son Heung-min and Wilson Odobert but often pushed up into a position that was usually alongside Richarlison.

That advanced position paid dividends early on when he followed up Wilson Odobert's saved strike after the Frenchman was played inside by Pedro Porro.

Then in the second half Sarr found an equaliser when young substitute Tynan Thompson produced a good low drive across from the left side and the older midfielder fired home his second goal.

Austin error

It was not a day to remember in a positive sense for goalkeeper Brandon Austin. The academy product, having finally made his Premier League debut last season, was handed his first start of the Frank era.

The 26-year-old made a complete mess of things though in the first half. The Spurs goalkeeper let a low shot from Armando Quitirna squeeze through his hands and body and into the net behind him.

There was little he could do about the same player's finish in the second half. Quitirna was picked out in plenty of space in the box and blasted a powerful shot past Austin and high into the net.

Vuskovic positioning

For the first time we got to see Luka Vuskovic playing alongside Cristian Romero. Frank decided to play the teenager on the right with the World Cup-winning Argentine switching to the left to help out the young centre-back.

Vuskovic's first appearance against Reading the previous weekend was eye-catching with his sweet strike to open his account for the club and his headed assist for Will Lankshear's earlier goal.

Against Wycombe the teenager was less eye-catching but put in a solid enough shift at the back. He did make one important attacking contribution as it was Vuskovic who sent Porro away with a ball down the right in the build-up to Spurs' opening goal.

Maddison hint among those watching on

As the squad for the Luton game was already at Hotspur Way there was an opportunity for various Tottenham players and staff to walk over and watch the game on one of their training pitches.

Spotted were Guglielmo Vicario, Mathys Tel, Brennan Johnson, Mohammed Kudus, Archie Gray, Mikey Moore, Alfie Devine, Yang Min-hyeok, Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, technical director Johan Lange, on his phone and U21s boss Wayne Burnett watching the game from behind the railings at the training ground.

There was a hint of what was to come with Maddison as well as the midfielder arrived in just shorts and a training shirt while the other players going to Luton were in their tracksuits. It soon emerged that the game at Kenilworth Road had indeed come too soon for the player to take part after only recently returning to full training after his knee injury.

Dominic Solanke has missed out on Tottenham's pre-season friendly team to face Luton Town on Saturday afternoon as a precautionary measure with a minor ankle injury.

Thomas Frank has named his second starting XI of the day following a 2-2 draw at Hotspur Way against another League One side in Wycombe Wanderers. Pape Matar Sarr scored both of the goals for the home side during the morning kick-off at the Enfield training complex.

The team for that match was Brandon Austin, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Luka Vuskovic, Ben Davies, George Abbott, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr, Wilson Odobert, Richarlison and skipper Son Heung-min, with a bench full of youngsters. Rodrigo Bentancur was in the original line-up only to miss out through illness, meaning George Abbott came into the team at late notice.

For the second game at Kenilworth there are some notable absentee as Solanke misses out with that ankle injury and the game has come too soon for James Maddison after his return to full training this week. Kota Takai has not yet recovered from the knock that kept him out of the match at Reading last weekend.

Josh Keeley starts for Luton after his £1million move from Tottenham last week.

Here is the Spurs team and substitutes bench for the game against the Hatters:

Vicario, Spence, Danso, van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Gray, Moore, Kudus, Johnson, Tel. Subs: Kinsky, Gunter, Scarlett, Donley, Yang, Lankshear, Devine, Kyerematen, Byfield, Rowswell, Russell-Denny, Olusesi.

Tottenham Hotspur are stepping up their preparations for the new season on Saturday with two fixtures taking place against League One opposition.

Wycombe Wanderers are the first opponents of the day at Spurs' training ground before the remainder of the squad takes on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.

Only two seasons ago, this would have been a Premier League bout but back-to-back relegations for the Hatters sees them tackling the third tier this campaign.

Guglielmo Vicario, Dominic Solanke and potentially a returning James Maddison could all feature in the second fixture of the day.

"We wanted an extra game in our schedule to give as many players as many match minutes as possible, in order to put them in the best position, physically," Frank said, explaining why two games were being played on the same day.

"We will play two even, strong teams and they will play between 60 and 75 minutes, maybe more. By the end of Saturday, 22 players will have played a lot of match minutes and they will be in a very good place before we go on tour."

Football.london has taken a look at how you can follow all of the action for the Luton game...

What time is kick-off?

Luton vs Spurs will kick-off at 3pm (UK time) at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, July 26.

How can I watch the action?

If you are in the UK, and around the world, you will be able to watch the game via Tottenham's in-house coverage on SpursPlay.

A pass for their streaming site will cost £45 for the season and that will allow you to watch every pre-season friendly as well as full match replays of regular season games and live coverage of selected women's and academy games.

Is there an alternative option?

In some countries, other channels and broadcasters will be showing the friendly this afternoon. In the United States of America fuboTV and Fox Sports have the rights to the match while in South Korea, Coupang Play will be showing the game.

Other options include Sport 1 in Israel and SPORT TV2 in Portugal.

How else can I follow the action?

Tottenham Hotspur's pre-season campaign continues with matches against Wycombe Wanderers and Luton Town on Saturday.

Spurs set up a double header against the two League One sides with Thomas Frank wanting to give plenty of minutes to most of his big squad of around 32 available players with the Dane splitting two strong starting lines-ups across both of the matches.

The first game against Wycombe is being played behind closed doors at the club's Hotspur Way training complex, kicking off at 11am while the second game is to be played at Kenilworth Road, kicking off at 3pm.

"We wanted an extra game in our schedule to give as many players as many match minutes as possible, in order to put them in the best position, physically," said Frank ahead of the double header.

"We will play two even, strong teams and they will play between 60 and 75 minutes, maybe more. By the end of Saturday, 22 players will have played a lot of match minutes and they will be in a very good place before we go on tour."

We've got live updates from both matches which you can find by scrolling down, with our Spurs reporter Alasdair Gold in place at Luton for the second game and both matches are available on the club's SpursPlay channel.

Rodrigo Bentancur was taken out of Tottenham's starting line-up to face Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday at late notice due to illness, football.london understands.

The Uruguayan was originally named in the starting XI to face the League One side, however Bentancur was then swapped around half an hour before kick-off for 19-year-old academy product George Abbott, who was not in the original squad to face Wycombe so would likely have been in the later squad to face Luton.

The team to face Wycombe (11am kick-off) is Austin, Pedro Porro, Romero, Vuskovic, Davies, Abbott, Bergvall, Sarr, Odobert, Richarlison, Son (c). A youthful substitutes bench includes Bloedorn, Ashcroft, Cassanova, Arganese-McDermott, Akhamrich, Tyrese Hall, Olusesi, Williams-Barnett, O Irow, Lehane, T Thompson.

Four hours later, Spurs will kick off a second Saturday friendly at Kenilworth Road against another League One outfit in Luton, who could feature former Tottenham goalkeeper Josh Keeley after his £1million move last week.

Frank will be in charge of both games on Saturday and has had to select two matchday squads from the 32 senior players fit and available as well as using plenty of the under-21s development squad.

"We wanted an extra game in our schedule to give as many players as many match minutes as possible, in order to put them in the best position, physically," said the Dane. "We will play two even, strong teams and they will play between 60 and 75 minutes, maybe more. By the end of Saturday, 22 players will have played a lot of match minutes and they will be in a very good place before we go on tour."

Tottenham Hotspur are stepping up their preparations for the new season with two games in one day.

Saturday will see the first team squad split into two groups, the first taking on League One side Wycombe Wanderers in an 11am kick-off at Hotspur Way.

The second group travel to Kenilworth Road to take on Luton Town following their relegation to League One last season (3pm kick-off).

The two games will give the squad a chance to get more minutes, as well as giving head coach Thomas Frank a chance to have a look at more players.

Speaking to the Spurs official website, the Dane said: "We wanted an extra game in our schedule to give as many players as many match minutes as possible, in order to put them in the best position, physically.

"We will play two even, strong teams and they will play between 60 and 75 minutes, maybe more.

"By the end of Saturday, 22 players will have played a lot of match minutes and they will be in a very good place before we go on tour."

Here is everything you need to know about following the first game of the day against Wycombe...

When is the game?

The game takes place on Saturday, July 26 with kick-off at 11am. The game is taking place at the Hotspur Way Training Centre but will be played behind closed doors.

Is it on TV?

No, the game will not be shown on TV, but Spurs have confirmed that it will be available to stream live on its SPURSPLAY streaming platform. A subscription is £45 for the season and that will allow you to watch every pre-season friendly as well as full match replays of regular season games and live coverage of selected women's and academy games.

How else can I follow?

football.london will bring you coverage around the match, as well as the game against Luton later in the afternoon.