Forest adamant Gibbs-White not for sale as contract dispute revealed

21 hours ago 1

Nottingham Forest are adamant Morgan Gibbs-White is not leaving the club, but are yet to lodge a formal complaint with the Premier League about Tottenham Hotspur's conduct in their attempts to sign the midfielder.

Sky Sports News can reveal that Forest have been trying for almost a year to open negotiations with Gibbs-White over a new-and-improved contract at the City Ground, but he has chosen not to engage in those talks.

Forest are prepared to give him a huge pay rise, in exchange for the removal of the release clause, which would make him one of, if not the, biggest earner at the club.

Sky Sports News has been told that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is prepared to lose significant sums of money to defend his position that Spurs made an alleged illegal approach for one of his side's best players and that there has been a breach of confidentiality in Tottenham seemingly being aware of the value of Gibbs-White's buy-out clause.

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Sky Sports News' Rob Dorsett answers the key questions around the transfer saga...

Are Spurs still keen to do a deal?

Yes, we understand they are, but they're taking a watching brief with a month-and-a-half of the transfer window still to go.

Spurs have made it clear they are prepared to meet Gibbs-White's buy-out clause, which has been widely reported to be worth £60m.

What does the current contract situation mean?

From Forest's point of view, Gibbs-White's refusal to discuss a new contract shows he doesn't have a long-term commitment to Forest.

Concerning his current contract, legally, there is a conflict between the rights of the employer and those of the employee.

Forest have a contractual agreement for the terms of Gibbs-White's contract, and specifically the level of his release clause, to be kept confidential, so if that has been breached, they have a legal case.

Conversely, Gibbs-White has a contractual agreement that if another club is prepared to pay a certain transfer fee, he can leave the City Ground. He has a potential legal claim there, too.

Morgan Gibbs-White reacts to going behind to Brentford

So what's next?

The result is the current stalemate. If Gibbs-White really wants to join Tottenham, it may be that he has to bring legal action against Forest, claiming a breach of contract, to try to force a move.

There is no indication that he is prepared to do that currently, and in fact, he returned to pre-season training yesterday as scheduled with the rest of Forest's international players.

Alternatively, it could be that Spurs are prepared to increase their offer for the player, and pay an amount above his release clause, to try to placate Forest and re-open lines of communication. Again, there is no indication at this stage that Spurs are prepared to do that, and there is no dialogue between the two clubs.

Neither Forest nor Spurs have commented on these latest developments.