Everton’s former chief, Keith Wyness, has revealed what his sources have told him about how Morgan Gibbs-White’s Tottenham push was received by his Nottingham Forest teammates.
News broke last Saturday that Gibbs-White decided to put pen to paper on a new contract at Nottingham Forest, which came as a huge blow to the Lilywhites.
Just hours before the development, it was being reported by several sources that Gibbs-White remained keen to complete a move to Tottenham.
However, according to reports, the Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis convinced Gibbs-White of the Midlands club’s ambitions and to remain as the star of Nuno Espirito Santo’s project.
Morgan Gibbs-White did not receive any backlash after Tottenham push
Keith Wyness has now explained that the midfielder’s decision to stay was very well received in the Forest dressing room.
He claimed that Gibbs-White did not receive any backlash from his teammates for wanting to leave, and opined that the midfielder made the right decision for the time being.
When asked about how the whole saga panned out, Wyness told Football Insider: “This has been a very interesting one that I’ve been watching very closely in this window. If we believe what we’re fed, Marinakis flew down to the training camp in Portugal and had a real heart-to-heart with Morgan Gibbs-White, offered him a new contract and explained to him that he was supporting Forest forever and that it was an exciting project to stay with.
“Morgan said, yeah, you’re absolutely right. This is the place I’ve decided to stay. Now that’s compared to the exciting Spurs project as well. But there is something about players getting used to a place where they’re playing well.
“My sources say he is well-received in the dressing room still. There was no backlash about the talks of him going away to Spurs. All the players understand that. Marinakis obviously has got some warm side as well as the very hard side that we’ve seen occasionally, and look, they’ve turned it round. I was very surprised. I really thought it was going to be a done deal.
“For Morgan Gibbs-White overall, it probably does make sense to stay where he is, if Forest are going to strengthen the team. That’s something that he will want to see, and they’ll need to keep their promise on that.
“I’m expecting now that the release clause will have gone up from the £60million where it was. It will now probably be £80m, £85m at least, I would think, and he’ll be on £150,000 a week. So in the end, everybody’s happy apart from Spurs.”
Not everyone is convinced about Gibbs-White’s intentions
Some Spurs fans have questioned claims that Gibbs-White wanted to stay at Forest, with many pointing out that the medical would not have been booked at Hotspur Way without the player giving the green light to the move.
Ramon Vega has even questioned Forest’s integrity after the Gibbs-White U-turn, particularly given the bizarre situation where Evangelos Marinakis was standing right next to the midfielder as he was giving his interview regarding his commitment to Forest.
Simon Jordan has suggested on talkSPORT that the 25-year-old might have been intimidated by Marinakis, remarking that the Greek billionaire might have even warned the player and his representative over allegedly releasing details of his confidential release clause to Spurs.
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