A report has shed light on what Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis did to persuade Morgan Gibbs-White to snub a switch to Tottenham and commit to a new deal at the City Ground.
Tottenham triggered Morgan Gibbs-White’s £60m transfer release clause two and a half weeks ago, but the move was halted by Forest, who accused the North London club of illegally speaking to the player.
The Midlands club successfully managed to buy time, and it emerged on Saturday that Gibbs-White had put pen to paper on a new contract at Forest.
This development took many by surprise as it was reported just a couple of days ago that Gibbs-White was determined to complete a move to Tottenham.
How Evangelos Marinakis convinced Morgan Gibbs-White to snub Tottenham
The Sun have now revealed that the 25-year-old changed his mind about a move to North London due to ‘a dramatic intervention’ by the Forest owner.
It is revealed that Marinakis flew to the club’s training camp in Portugal for face-to-face talks with the England international.
The Greek billionaire reportedly delivered a passionate speech to the midfielder about his importance to Forest and about his ambitious plans for the club’s future.
Marinakis told Gibbs-White that he wanted to make the club bigger and stronger and wanted him to be at the heart of the project.
The Tottenham target was so impressed by Marinakis’ enthusiasm and vision that he agreed to forgo a move to North London and sign a new contract.
Spurs have missed out on other targets in the mean time
The new contract sees the midfielder’s deal extended until the summer of 2028 and contains no release clause, according to The Sun. That means that Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of landing the midfielder are over for the time being.
Given the outcome, one has to say that this is a big win for Marinakis, who has done a masterclass after the Lilywhites met Gibbs-Whtie’s release clause and the player expressed a desire to move to N17.
Tottenham will be extremely frustrated as this means that they have essentially wasted two and a half weeks.
In the meantime, some of the other attacking midfielders on Spurs’ radar, such as Xavi Simons, are on the verge of signing for their rivals.
🚨🔵 Understand Chelsea and RB Leipzig are now in advanced talks for Xavi Simons.
Negotiations club to club progressing well, still work to do but heading positive direction.
Xavi, keen on Chelsea project with personal terms talks also advanced. pic.twitter.com/0nvfFWSyww
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 26, 2025
- READ MORE: Tottenham line up £33m move to sign ‘cornerstone’ of Thomas Frank’s future project
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