Carrie - thank you for posting the article.There was nothing especially remarkable about Nottingham Forest’s pre-season friendly against Fulham on July 26.
It was in the middle of their training camp in Portugal, plenty of players got some minutes in their legs, a couple of new signings took part. Yet, at one point, it looked like being the last time Morgan Gibbs-White, their No 10, talisman and key creative force, would play for them.
A couple of weeks earlier, Tottenham Hotspur had lodged bids for Gibbs-White that met and then exceeded a £60million release clause placed in the England attacker’s contract.
Forest were concerned about how Tottenham became aware of the clause, which was supposed to be confidential. They considered reporting Spurs to the Premier League over what they deemed to be an illegal approach for the player.
But then, on that warm evening in Portugal, Forest shocked everybody by announcing Gibbs-White had signed a new contract at the club.
It was an extraordinary about-turn. So what happened?
The Athletic has spoken to people inside both clubs, and close to the deal, who, like all others in this article, will remain anonymous as they were not authorised to speak publicly. It can be revealed that:
Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Gibbs-White’s agency CAA Stellar all declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.
- Before signing his new deal at Forest, Gibbs-White was set on the move to Spurs
- Forest believe Spurs’ offer did not trigger aspects of the clause beyond the £60m fee
- Gibbs-White phoned Spurs head coach Thomas Frank to apologise for the transfer not going through
- A 30-minute meeting with Evangelos Marinakis in Portugal helped change his mind
This is the story of a remarkable saga, about which some mysteries remain.
On July 10, Spurs notified Forest that they were about to make a formal offer for Gibbs-White, which was then sent through official channels. The overall package, including potential add-ons, would have eclipsed the £65m club-record fee they paid to sign Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth last summer. The Athletic reported at the time that Gibbs-White was set to have a medical at the London club.
On the same day, Spurs were finalising the signing of Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United for £55m. Signing both players within the space of a few days would have been a statement of intent under new manager Frank.
Release clauses specify an amount that, if offered by another club, allow them to speak to the player concerned and, if terms are agreed, seal a transfer. In this instance, the total package was above the £60m release clause in Gibbs-White’s contract. But Forest believed Spurs’ offer did not satisfy other aspects within the clause — the details of which The Athletic has not been able to verify — meaning they were not obliged to accept the offer.
Gibbs-White’s future was in limbo (Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
Spurs later returned with a second, higher bid but Forest maintained their position and were angry that Spurs knew about the clause at all, as it was supposed to be confidential. They believed that Spurs had been made aware of the clause by another party and considered reporting their rivals to the Premier League, as The Athleticreported on July 11.
The situation entered a holding pattern. Spurs thought their bid should have released Gibbs-White and were under the impression he was still keen to make the move. But Forest had not accepted their bid and so the transfer could not officially go through.
Gibbs-White wasn’t involved in Forest’s first pre-season friendly on July 12 but reported back for training on July 14 as scheduled, at the same time as the other players who had been involved in the post-season internationals. He made his first appearance of pre-season for Forest in a friendly against Monaco in Chesterfield on July 19, playing the first half.
Gibbs-White’s dilemma
There were many factors at play as the potential transfer rumbled on.
Gibbs-White did not travel with the Forest squad to their pre-season training camp in Portugal on July 21. This was completely unconnected to the transfer situation: his partner, Britney De Villiers, was in the late stages of a difficult pregnancy. She posted on Instagram that she was dealing with a ‘high-risk’ pregnancy, saying, ‘I just don’t really remember a time I wasn’t overwhelmed with stress.’
Gibbs-White was given permission to remain with her as the rest of the squad began their camp, and their baby was born in early August.
The midfielder joined the rest of the Forest players on July 24 and, around the same time, the club’s owner Marinakis also travelled to Portugal.
Forest did not want to lose their playmaker (Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
Before the friendly against Fulham, in which Gibbs-White came off the bench, Marinakis and Gibbs-White met and, Forest say, at the end of a positive 30-minute meeting, the midfielder decided to stay. After a broad agreement had been reached, the club then spoke to Gibbs-White’s representatives to finalise the financial aspects of the deal.
Several Forest players have since revealed they spoke to Gibbs-White and did their best to convince him his future was in Nottingham. “Everybody in the dressing room spoke about this with him,” said Nikola Milenkovic. Chris Wood, also speaking after the friendly against Birmingham City early in August, confirmed he spoke to “one of my closest friends in the squad” about sticking around.
There are other factors too, of course. Gibbs-White’s new contract was described as a ‘record deal’ by Forest and tacks an extra year onto the previous deal, which had been due to run out in 2027.
Spurs miss out
This was a hugely stressful time for Gibbs-White, given his family situation, and it is worth stating that two things can be true at the same time: Gibbs-White could have beeen happy at Forest and fine with the idea of staying, while also being keen to further his career by moving to club who will play in the Champions League this season.
After Gibbs-White was persuaded to stay at Forest, he called Frank to say sorry for how the situation played out but was told an apology was not required.
Spurs were disappointed by the situation, and people around the club have remarked how they had never previously experienced a player being so ostensibly keen to join them, only to change their mind and sign a new contract. They recognised it was a setback — which has been given more significance by James Maddison’s subsequent anterior cruciate ligament injury— but insisted it did not ruin their transfer plans.
It is also not clear who told Tottenham about the clause — if indeed they were told at all. There is a scenario whereby Spurs made an offer based on their own valuation, without knowing the exact release clause.
So what’s the point in having a release clause if nobody knows about it?
“The rationale from the player side is still that if their contract says there is a release clause of X,” says Dan Chapman, a managing partner and head of employment and sports law at Leathes Prior, “then what that clause will go on to say is that, in the event that the club receives a bid that exceeds that release clause, they are then obligated to accept that bid and must inform the player and his advisors so that they can decide whether to transfer.
“Now, if it’s confidential, what’s to stop the club rejecting the bid? This has happened and I have seen cases where a club has a release clause and they reject an offer that exceeds it in the hope that the player and his advisors don’t get wind of it.
“But in fairness to most clubs, if they have agreed a release clause and it was met by the buying club, then it would be a very foolish club to ignore that.”
The situation had the potential to become even more complicated if Forest pursued their complaints. As Chapman explains, if a club accuses a player or agent of breaching the confidentiality clause, that could have implications for any future transfer and, if proven, could mean the clause is ‘no longer operative’.
Forest’s good news
After announcing the new deal for Gibbs-White, Forest posted on X. “A statement of intent from our owner Evangelos Marinakis, as Morgan Gibbs-White signs a record deal at the Club until the summer of 2028.’
They then posted an interview from the side of the pitch with both Gibbs-White — still in his kit after the Fulham match — and Marinakis discussing the deal.
Forest know their model relies on selling players for a profit and they regarded Gibbs-White as impossible to replace. Couple that with the departure of Anthony Elanga to Newcastle United, and they believed that they simply couldn’t afford to lose their playmaker this summer.
And so, one of the more curious transfer sagas of the summer came to an end. Forest will enter the new Premier League season with their best player still at the heart of their team. Tottenham are, at the time of writing, still looking for a No 10.
There's very little new hard information, apart from MGW phoning Frank to apologise.
In spy language, this is a limited hangout.
An attempt to manage problematic information, rather than shine light on what actually happened.
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