Morgan Gibbs-White told to reject Tottenham offer and wait for Nottingham Forest signing spree
Morgan Gibbs-White would be better served by staying at Nottingham Forest rather than moving to Tottenham this summer.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that Spurs’ “paybook” is “shallower than people think.”
The Lilywhites have identified the attacking midfielder as a target once again after surviving relegation from the Premier League, and are hoping to go one better than their previous efforts to sign him.
The North Londoners triggered the 26-year-old’s release clause last summer, only to have Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis stand in their way, and tempt the star to agree a new contract.
Forest are dealing with interest in Gibbs-White once again after an eye-catching individual campaign, and Wyness believes that it still won’t be straightforward for Tottenham to swoop in and strike a deal.
Morgan Gibbs-White wants ‘revitalised’ Nottingham Forest squad
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Gibbs-White’s future could hinge on whether Nottingham Forest can “revitalise” their squad.
He believes that the England hopeful will want to see a rebuild at the City Ground this summer, to show signs that the club are ready to return to challenging for European football next term.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness made it clear that he believes a move to Tottenham would be a significant risk for the player this summer.
“The shy and retiring Mr Marinakis will have something to say about it, no doubt about it. He certainly saw Tottenham off the last time,” he said.
“He’s personally involved in all the transfer dealings this summer. Elliott Anderson will be one who might be going, would Gibbs-White go as well?
“I don’t see Gibbs-White going even though Spurs may have an interest, because Spurs' paybook is actually a little bit shallower than a lot of people think.
“Gibbs-White is going to want to see the rebuilding of the squad. That’s what Marinakis is counting on, that he can show that there's going to be a Forest coming back to when they were challenging in the top half.
“I think he'd be better off staying at Forest if there is a revitalised squad going forward rather than jumping to Spurs, which is going to be a very interesting work in progress, to say the least.”
Ex-scout thinks it is ‘impossible’ for Forest to keep Gibbs-White
Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown recently told Football Insider that it could be “impossible” for Forest to keep hold of Gibbs-White this time around.
The ex-recruitment man believes that the former Wolves star will want to take the next step in his career at some stage, and added that there are plenty of clubs at the top of the Premier League and in Europe who would be ready to offer him that chance.
Brown added that he doesn’t believe Thomas Tuchel’s decision to leave him out of the squad for the World Cup will have any effect on the player’s future.
However, he did note that the money is unlikely to be an issue for several of the interested clubs, given that the interest is real and genuine in most cases.