Last summer, Tottenham Hotspur brought in two young gems in Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus, and while both men suffered season ending injuries and could not necessarily give Spurs all that they could, both players showed enough to make the Lilywhites believe that they have found two future superstars - and two of their most important players in the present.
But Spurs could have had more. Simons was the best case scenario after the club whiffed on Eberechi Eze, who left Crystal Palace for North London rivals Arsenal, but the real missed opportunity, besides Manchester City bargain addition Rayan Cherki, was Morgan GIbbs-White.
The Nottingham Forest star was even more agonizingly close to a dream move to N17, as Evangelos Marinakis created such a stink to the Premier League about Daniel Levy activating his apparently secretive release clause (which also makes you wonder a few things about Marinakis's business) that the deal simply collapsed. And for Spurs fans, Levy not fighting Marinakis harder to secure MGW for the Lilywhites was another blemish on the former Chairman.
Tottenham need to poach a Premier League star
Forest would go on to have a better year than Tottenham, including blowing them out 3-0 in the relegation battle in Igor Tudor's final game in charge, with Morgan Gibbs-White very central to their success.
The whopping 15 goals and 4 assists he brought to the table for Forest would have easily made him the most effective attacking player for Tottenham Hotspur, and had he played for the Lilywhites instead, maybe the 2025/26 Premier League table would have looked very, very different.
Tottenham have to look at Gibbs-White's 2025/26 season, especially those goal totals, and think that the summer 2026 transfer window is the ripe time to go back in for the 26 year old English standout. Gibbs-White is a hard working, intelligent, and technical player who gets the job done, and Spurs need that in their attack, even with James Maddison back from an ACL tear. After all, both Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons just tore their own ACLs.
MGW is a no nonsense footballer who creates chances and makes things happen with the ball at his feet. Tottenham have a couple of those guys between Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus, but they do not have a whole lot. And even with three No. 9's, they never had a player anywhere close to MGW's goal threat. If Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange are wise, they will make a more serious play for Marinakis's gem in 2026.
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