Yesterday, at roughly the same time Tottenham Hotspur was playing against Reading, Nottingham Forest played a preseason friendly of their own, a scoreless draw against Monaco. Tottenham Hotspur target Morgan Gibbs-White started the match and nearly scored on a header. He’s kept his head down despite being at the center of one of the stories of the preseason — Tottenham’s £60m transfer bid for him, a number that meets his contracted release clause but which has resulted in Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis
issuing a complaint against Spurs with the Premier League for an “illegal approach.”
Since then we haven’t really gotten many updates on the status of that complaint and whether it’s a legitimate grievance or merely a delay tactic from Forest. But Gibbs-White has notably refused to force the issue, instead reporting for Forest training and keeping his mouth shut.
Now, the Athletic is reporting that Gibbs-White is set to be named as part of the Nottingham Forest squad that will travel to Portugal on Monday for a preseason training camp. Aggregator accounts are calling this a “preseason tour” but while Forest will play against Liga NOS side Estoril Praia, on July 30 it’s mostly a warm-weather training camp and not a full tour.
Nevertheless, that would seem to put the kibosh on any hopes that Spurs might negotiate a deal with Forest over MGW’s transfer anytime soon. With Gibbs-White seemingly content to not rock the boat, it leaves his transfer in limbo, with no resolution anytime soon. We’ll have to see what that means — Spurs are already linked with Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, suggesting that Johan Lange and Tottenham’s recruitment team may be preparing to pivot to other targets. Or they may play the long game and wait to see if the Premier League rules in their favor before deciding what to do.
Strap in, because this looks like a SAGA that will not be resolved anytime soon.
More from cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com:
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- Tottenham eying Brazilian attacker Malcom in January transfer window
- Pochettino: Harry Kane can be Tottenham’s Totti
- Jan Vertonghen thinks Belgium has the advantage over England in World Cup
- Saturday football open thread
- The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Friday, December 29
- Italian media claims Tottenham in for Ajax starlet
