Nottingham Forest submit Tottenham legal complaint as Morgan Gibbs-White returns for pre-season | OneFootball

£60m Spurs transfer for England midfielder delayed with Premier League rivals unhappy over conduct

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But the deal has since been thrown into doubt, with Forest unhappy with Tottenham’s approach to the England international and claiming Spurs were never granted permission to speak to him.

Forest have now lodged a formal complaint to the Premier League over Tottenham's approach, with the club raising concerns over how Spurs became aware of confidential details within his contract.

Having signed West Ham's Mohammed Kudus for £55m last week, Spurs are keen to add Gibbs-White too as they look to bolster their attacking options under new manager Thomas Frank.

However, Gibbs-White returned to pre-season training, along with Forest's other international players, on Monday morning, and contact between the two clubs has stopped.

Gibbs-White enjoyed a superb 2024/25 campaign, scoring seven and assisting 10 goals, as Forest finished seventh in the Premier League.

The 25-year-old, who joined Forest from Wolves in 2022 for a fee that could rise to £42m, made his England debut against the Republic of Ireland in October 2024 and is considered an option for Thomas Tuchel heading into next year's World Cup.

The midfielder attracted interest from Manchester City earlier in the summer before Pep Guardiola's side pursued other targets including Tijjani Reijnders.

Forest are keen to keep hold of Gibbs-White, having already sanctioned the £55m departure of Swedish winger Anthony Elanga to Newcastle.