Tottenham Hotspur are looking to complete the £60million signing of Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest and he is a player who has garnered plenty of praise within the game.
The 25-year-old England international has been on a steady rise in the Premier League in recent seasons and was a standout player in a big campaign for Forest under former Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo as they flirted around the top three for long periods. Gibbs-White captained the side on the majority of occasions and provided seven goals and 10 assists in 34 Premier League matches.
A versatile player who has played everywhere across the midfield and attack during recent years, he has racked up 47 goal involvements in 154 Premier League games across his time at Forest and before that Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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With four England appearances now to his name, Gibbs-White is looking to make the move to Spurs with them planning to trigger his £60million release clause and if he does make the move then he will make his debut in the Champions League in the months ahead under new head coach Thomas Frank. He has been a long-time target for Tottenham, but also for the Dane who had wanted to take him to Brentford since his Wolves days.
Here's what people have said about the midfielder over the years and why he will become a key man under Frank at Tottenham.
Nuno Espirito Santo"Morgan is a very special player for us. Very important, talented, the work rate on the pitch, but to allow Morgan to have these moments a lot of things happen behind, hard work by the boys and this is very important."
Thomas Tuchel"Morgan is an amazing character, I have to say. I'm happy he is with us. He deserves a lot of praise because first of all how he took the first disappointment when he got my call that he [was] not in the squad. He handled it very well, because when he got the second call he was straight away excited and didn't take it personally.
"I can see why he is a winner, we can clearly see that. I think he won titles with the youth teams already, so you can see that he's a fantastic team player and can handle disappointment very very well. When we trained after the match in Wembley he was one of the outstanding players in training, although he was not in the squad before.
"So that's amazing. It's also how we expect it to be because it should be an honour, it should be a privilege to play for England, and the egos have to be put aside - that's what everyone is doing and Morgan does it in an impressive way."
Kyle Walker"Yeah [he could go all the way]. He's got the ability, he's got the ability. For a player that I watched at Sheffield United to, kind of, be cast aside from Wolves, to then go to Sheffield United, to then go to Forest and then do what he's done, break into the England team. You know, he's got all the ability."
Callum Hudson-Odoi"100% [it was one of the passes of the season]. Every time I tell him just look for me, look for me and he found me. You know he's got that quality. He's a special player."
Stuart Pearce"He's done brilliantly well – last year I don't think he did as well as the season before, but he's an exciting talent, the manager knows him well and has worked with him well. He's won things with England before, so I'm absolutely delighted – I've obviously got links with the club but he's certainly a talent. And in an area of the pitch with no Jude Bellingham in this [England] squad, he'll play in a similar type of position."
Ashley Cole"If you look at the potential of the player, again, he can do everything. He can run forwards, he can run backwards, and we always speak about that motivation to run backwards.
"He can unlock defences, he can score goals and assists, so there's not a lot he can't do. I'm not surprised a top team like Manchester City are chasing him."
Pep Guardiola"The four up front are really good and can create many things. Hudson-Odoi, Elanga and Gibbs-White are exceptional players who create many things for themselves."
Chris Waddle[In 2024] "I've watched Morgan Gibbs-White quite a lot over the last few years, and I like what I've seen of him. Nottingham Forest paid a lot of money to take him from Wolves after he wasn't really playing, but the potential has always been there.
"If he had to choose between Newcastle United and Tottenham, then I think Newcastle would be a better fit for him. He primarily plays in that No.10 role or supporting the strikers, and I think he would complement Newcastle's midfield of Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton.
"With Maddison at Tottenham, I can't see him playing in the role that he would want… I can't see him sitting on the bench at his next club, and there's a danger that would happen if he joined Spurs."
Chris Wood"Morgs has put in a fantastic delivery, he's got quality the boy, it's just about finding areas to cause confusion."
Phil Foden"What a player," replied underneath Gibbs-White's Instagram post after his man of the match display in the Under-21s European Championship semi-final in 2023.
Glenn Murray"I'm a big fan of his. I think he is always positive, he gets on the half-turn and plays defence-splitting passes. He's just always looking to progress the team.
"The ball for Chris Wood's goal was absolutely wonderful. The control, the turn, the ball - he didn't even have to look. He knew the area it needed to go in to and, as a former striker, he makes Chris Wood's job there so easy.
"He's just always positive. He's got another side to his game - he doesn't shirk his responsibilities and fights back. For me, that's why he has become a really positive leader for Nottingham Forest."
George Baldock[On his then Sheffield United team-mate] "Oh he's brilliant. We all know the talent he is. Obviously it's taken him a little bit of time to get back, like it has all of us you know. We've all had that little bit of time out of the team.
"You can see now he's getting in his stride. You know, he's one of the best players in the league and I think I mentioned, he's up there with the most talented players in the squad and his quality shines through."
David McGoldrick[Also during Gibbs-White's loan spell from Wolves] "He's got the world at his feet. You know, great kid, great player. He’s got all the ability in the world.
"He just needs to play games and he’s doing that here. He's expressing himself, got the license and free spirit to go out there. We want him to go and create. He’s going to lose the ball sometimes. All good players do that but as long as he's in the right positions and scoring goals like that I don't mind what he does."
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