On a weekend where Xavi Simons produced his best moment in a Tottenham shirt, the Dutchman was still upstaged by the No. 10 Spurs wanted all along.
The club pivoted to Xavi amid a panicked scramble to bolster their creative department after James Maddison succumbed to an ACL tear in pre-season.
Morgan Gibbs-White was deemed the priority target, and the club seemed to be moving with a ruthless swagger when they triggered the Nottingham Forest captain's release clause in the wake of confirming Mohammed Kudus's arrival from West Ham.
However, Evangelos Marinakis kicked up a fuss. Accused of making an "illegal approach" for Forest's talisman, Spurs' deal swiftly fell through, and instead, Gibbs-White extended his stay at the City Ground.
Now, he's inspiring Forest's push to safety.
Gibbs-White's incredible run of form is helping condemn Tottenham
Xavi's stunning strike against Brighton was just his second Premier League goal of the season. Much of his best work arrived in Europe, where he relished the space afforded to him by continental outfits. It's been much more of a slog domestically, but his capacity to conjure up something from very little means he has a pivotal role to play during the run-in.
Thankfully, Roberto De Zerbi trusted him at the weekend, with Xavi's inclusion in the starting XI and subsequent performance suggesting he'll be at the forefront of our desperate quest to remain in the Premier League.
If he could replicate what Gibbs-White is doing up in Nottingham, that'd be grand.
Forest's No. 10 scored just three league goals during the first half of the season and notched an assist during a 3-1 win over Brentford on the opening weekend. However, as his side's position gradually became more precarious, Gibbs-White shouldered responsibility and embarked on an imperious run of form.
He's scored nine times in 2026, and his first senior career hat-trick against Burnley at the weekend, helping Forest recover from a half-time deficit, saw Vitor Pereira's side move five points adrift of Spurs in the relegation dogfight.
His excellent run also included a strike at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last month, with Forest's 3-0 victory ending Igor Tudor's ill-fated tenure.
Gibbs-White is also inspiring Forest in Europe, with the two-time European Cup winners progressing into the semi-finals of the Europa League thanks to the Englishman's strike against Porto last Thursday.
He's continuing to prove why Spurs were intent on signing him last summer, and it's almost too predictable that he's the man helping condemn the Lilywhites to an unfathomable demise.
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