Fabrizio Romano confirms Arsenal interest in club’s most valuable star, as Tottenham and West Ham lurk
Nott'm Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White will be hot property this summer
Arsenal ‘appreciate’ former England U21 star Morgan Gibbs-White, though a deal for the Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United target will depend on Nottingham Forest’s future, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Gibbs-White graduated from the Wolverhampton Wanderers academy in January 2017 and went on to have loan spells at Swansea City and Sheffield United. He did particularly well at Bramall Lane, registering 12 goals and 10 assists to help Sheff Utd reach the Championship play-off semi-final in May 2022, where they lost to Nott’m Forest.
The central attacking midfielder was expected to return to Wolves in summer 2022 and try to force his way into their starting eleven.
However, Gibbs-White left Wolves fans stunned when he joined Forest in a big-money deal. Forest paid Wolves an initial £25million for Gibbs-White, though the deal could eventually be worth a huge £42.5m through add-ons.
The 24-year-old has gone on to become a crucial player at the City Ground, establishing himself as Forest’s main source of creativity. He has registered goal contributions against Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Luton Town since the start of February, while also captaining Nuno Espirito Santo’s side on eight occasions this term.
As per transfermarkt, Gibbs-White is Forest’s most valuable player at £34m, ahead of Ibrahim Sangare (£27m).
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But Tottenham and West Ham were linked with moves for the playmaker on Friday, while Arsenal’s interest in him emerged on Sunday.
In his latest column for the Daily Briefing, Romano has confirmed Arsenal are casting admiring glances towards Gibbs-White. Although, no concrete move has been made yet, as Arsenal will wait to see whether Forest get relegated from the Premier League before making a final decision.
Arsenal ‘appreciate’ Nott’m Forest star
“Morgan Gibbs-White has been linked with Arsenal by some outlets, but I’m not aware of anything imminent or concrete,” the journalist said.
“They appreciate the player as many other clubs do as well, but at the moment they haven’t made contact with Nottingham Forest so we have to be patient on this one; it’s also going to be key to understand if Forest will still be in the Premier League or not.”
Forest were recently hit with a four-point deduction for breaking Profit and Sustainability Rules, which saw them drop into the bottom three. They are now in 18th spot, one point behind 17th-placed Luton.
Incredibly, the three relegated clubs may not be confirmed until after the season has finished, as Everton are awaiting the result of a second charge. The Toffees have already managed to get their first points deduction reduced from 10 to six, but another penalty could see them drop into the Championship.
Should Forest fail to stay in the top flight, then this will set up a big transfer battle between Arsenal, Spurs and West Ham for Gibbs-White.
The attacker has proven he is too good for the Championship and that he has the ability to influence big games at Premier League level.
Gibbs-White ultimately has ambitions of forcing his way into the senior England squad, and a move to a club such as Arsenal would help that dream.