Morgan Gibbs-White is back in a Forest shirt – but the uncertainty is not over

New York Times

5 days ago

As he made his way towards the tunnel after completing his warm down exercises on the Chesterfield pitch, Morgan Gibbs-White was serenaded with noisy chants of his name from the Nottingham Forest fans.
The midfielder initially raised his hands above his head to applaud, before then clasping them together into a heart shape, to convey a simple message to those in the stand.
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Will the 45 minutes and nine seconds of football Gibbs-White played in the first half of a 0-0 draw with Monaco be the last he plays in a Forest shirt?
The question of whether it was a goodbye will be answered in the coming days and weeks.
It does feel as though the saga — which began when Tottenham Hotspur made an offer of £60million for Forest's most talismanic player ten days ago — is not yet definitively over.
Forest were frustrated that the offer happened to precisely match a confidential release clause in Gibbs-White's contract. But while their frustration is understandable, it will not guarantee an end to Tottenham's interest in their most creative player.
Behind the scenes, it has been business as usual at the Nigel Doughty Academy, where Gibbs-White has been working hard with his teammates since reporting back for training on Monday.
When it comes to Gibbs-White, there have been no issues with the rest of the dressing room or with manager Nuno Espirito Santo, even if the club opted to keep him out of the limelight once more, with Nuno again not conducting post match interviews following the draw with the Ligue 1 side, which saw Forest field entirely different teams in each half.
Ola Aina, who himself put pen to paper on a new contract that runs until 2028 earlier this month, says that the topic has been discussed in the dressing room, where both Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi — who is entering into the final year of his contract — have been the subject of some lighthearted flak.
'We have a bit of banter about stuff like that! But it's that person's business,' said Aina. 'Of course I would (like to see Gibbs-White stay). But I don't know what's going on. You'd have to ask Morgan. I don't think it will be forgotten (what Gibbs-White has done for the club). Never. He's a terrific player and his football speaks for itself.
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'Everyone is being professional. Right now we just need to get our heads down and focus on pre-season. This is going to be another important season for us and we look forward to that. We need to build on last season. We need to try to progress as players, a club and a team. We want to go a step further again.'
It is hard to assess a player's mood when they are warming up in the pouring rain in Derbyshire, but Gibbs-White looked lively enough as he went through a series of stretching exercises with Jota Silva.
Gibbs-White's last appearance in a Forest shirt had been in the frustrating 1-0 defeat at the City Ground against Chelsea in May, which confirmed that the club would not secure the Champions League football that had looked like such a tantalising possibility for much of the campaign.
At the SMH Group Stadium Gibbs-White stepped out in the smart new kit, which carries something of a resemblance to the pin striped offering Forest wore in 1992-93, a season which began with Forest selling one of their best players — Teddy Sheringham — to Tottenham and ended, ultimately, in relegation from the top flight.
Forest want to build on the seventh-placed finish they secured last time out, as they prepare themselves to play on the European stage for the first time in three decades. But losing their most influential player in the build-up to the new campaign would not be the ideal preparation.
The fact that Gibbs-White has not been persuaded to sign a new deal, with two years left to run on the contract he signed when he joined in a £25million — potentially rising to £42million — move from Wolves in the summer of 2022, leaves Forest in a vulnerable position.
Wolves went through a similar situation themselves last season, with Matheus Cunha, their own attacking talisman. Both Arsenal and Forest had been interested in the Brazilian. But he signed a new contract in February, which included a release clause that fairly reflected his value — and ultimately led to his £62.5m move to join Manchester United in June.
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When Gibbs-White's name was included on the teamsheet for Forest's second pre-season game, it raised the question of how he might be received, amid the prospect of his potential departure, which had even seen Tottenham schedule a medical for the player on Friday July 11, prior to Forest seeking legal advice over their approach.
But Gibbs-White's name was as loudly cheered as any other Forest player when the teams were announced over the PA system.
Forest played with their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation with Gibbs-White in his usual position in the 10, playing just behind striker Chris Wood, with Hudson-Odoi and Jota on the flanks. Amid a competitive friendly game, there were a few moments where Gibbs-White demonstrated exactly why he had become such an integral figure.
After drifting out wide towards the right, he looked up before delivering a high, looping ball towards the far post, into the path of a run from Wood, who could not quite control. When Hudson-Odoi played Gibbs-White into space, he cut into the box purposefully, before holding his hand in his hands after opting to shoot — with an effort that cleared the bar — rather than to fire the ball across goal.
More than once, he received the ball at his feet, turned, and advanced gracefully forward into space, as we have seen him do so many times during his 118 appearances for the club. Gibbs-White even attempted to win a header against Eric Dier. But the force of the former Tottenham and Bayern Munich man's robust challenge even left his own teammate, Pape Cabral, in an agonised heap.
Gibbs-White is expected to join the rest of the squad, when they fly to Portugal for their pre-season training camp next week. Beyond that, the future remains uncertain.
Has Gibbs-White burnt his bridges at Forest? It does not feel that way. He remains a popular figure in the dressing room and the reception he received from the stands in Chesterfield suggests many fans remain onside, with a player they know very well, would be hugely difficult to replace.