Evangelos Marinakis wants to sell Morgan Gibbs-White to Manchester City over Tottenham Hotspur
Just a couple of weeks ago, Tottenham looked to be in pole position to land Morgan Gibbs-White, with reports suggesting a £60 million deal was close. The Forest playmaker had emerged as a key target for Ange Postecoglou, seen as an ideal creative addition to link midfield with the attack.
However, the situation has dramatically changed. Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has accused Spurs of making an illegal approach for Gibbs-White, complicating talks and throwing the transfer into disarray. To make matters worse for Tottenham, Gibbs-White is now reportedly being encouraged by Marinakis to hold out for a move to a “higher-level club”, with Manchester City being the preferred destination.
According to TalkSPORT’s Alex Crook, the Forest number 10 told Marinakis at the end of last season that he would only consider a move if a club of certain stature came calling. Marinakis, rather dismissively, does not view Tottenham as meeting that standard, a view that’s understandably frustrating from a Spurs point of view given our trajectory under Postecoglou.
Man City link is more than a power play, Not a Footballing One
While Manchester City have yet to formally bid, Marinakis is reportedly hoping they’ll enter the race to provide leverage in negotiations or even structure a deal involving James McAtee. Forest have long admired McAtee but balked at the £35 million price tag, so a swap deal involving Gibbs-White is being floated in the background.
What’s clear is that Marinakis is doing everything he can to ensure Forest come out of this saga with maximum gain. And in the process, he appears far more willing to engage in backchannel talks with City than he was with Tottenham, despite Spurs’ genuine interest and previous willingness to meet the release clause (albeit with a different payment structure).
Gibbs-White still has two years left on his current deal, and £60 million is a fair, if steep, valuation. Spurs seemed ready to pay it, but the noise around the player’s preferred destination and Forest’s political manoeuvring have put the deal on ice.
Let Marinakis play his games
As painful as this potential miss may feel for Spurs fans, this entire situation reeks more of boardroom politics than footballing rationale. Marinakis’s belief that Tottenham are somehow “beneath” Gibbs-White’s ambitions is as arrogant as it is illogical. Spurs are in the Champions League, building under one of the most exciting managers in the Premier League, and have a clear vision for attacking football, exactly the kind of environment Gibbs-White should thrive in.
If the player himself is keen to join, as earlier reports suggested, Spurs should stay firm and avoid getting pulled into a bidding war designed to bait Manchester City. There are other creative midfielders out there who would jump at the chance to wear the Lilywhite shirt. Let Marinakis play his high-stakes chess game with City, Tottenham don’t need to be anyone’s pawn.
In the end, if Gibbs-White truly wants the move, the deal may still happen. But Spurs must stand tall and avoid overpaying or being drawn into PR mind games. We’re not the Tottenham of oldand we’re building something better. Players and owners who don’t see that? Their loss.