Tottenham Hotspur are pushing hard to sign Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White this summer for 60 million pounds, per a release clause they happened to stumble upon, and the surprise top-five Premier League contenders aren't too pleased about it. They are fighting tooth and nail to keep Gibbs-White, even though MGW has made it apparent that he would like to join Spurs.
Gibbs-White would join Mohammed Kudus as the two big Tottenham attacking transfer signings this summer with potentially more on the way, pending Daniel Levy's ambition - and he is notorious for lacking it from a sporting perspective.
Meanwhile, Forest are determined to keep the player with 15 Premier League goal contributions in back-to-back seasons, and their ire isn't only directed at Tottenham but also at the player himself.
Nottingham Forest had a deal set with Manchester City
According to a report from Football Insider's Wayne Veysey, the main reason why Nottingham Forest are so upset with Tottenham and Gibbs-White for agreeing to a deal, per his release clause, is out of pure selfishness and not a desire to keep the player after all. See, Forest have already been planning on selling Gibbs-White, but they actually had a swap deal they were working on with Manchester City to bring in James McAtee in exchange.
McAtee is one of the most promising young midfielders in England, but, like Cole Palmer before him, he's for sale since Man City don't have a place for him. Forest aren't the only team in the Premier League interested in taking a flier on the high-upside McAtee, as Tottenham have also been linked to the 22-year-old.
If Gibbs-White goes to Tottenham, then it's a double whammy for Forest. Not only do they lose Gibbs-White to a top-five rival, but they also don't get a chance to recoup another promising attacking midfielder in McAtee. Furthermore, if Spurs were to then go ahead and sign McAtee - which is unlikely if they ink Gibbs-White to a deal - then it could be a further triple-whammy for Forest.
It's an interesting situation, and it's one that certainly doesn't make Forest or owner Evangelos Marinakis any more likable. Already, the way they have handled the Gibbs-White transfer has soured their image, which no doubt looks worse if the whole threat to sue Spurs stems from their anger that they are missing out on the McAtee deal, which is their own fault for not completing sooner anyway.