Latest Nottingham Forest transfer news from NottinghamshireLive as Arsenal became the latest club linked with a summer deal for the £50 million-rated playmaker.
Title-chasing Arsenal are the latest team to be linked with a summer transfer for Nottingham Forest striker Morgan Gibbs-White.
With Forest already facing a Premier League points loss for breaking expenditure restrictions, the club will need to be cautious in the coming months if they want to avoid further profitability and sustainability sanctions. That means their great players are being scrutinized for potential cash-generating sales this summer.
Liverpool is one of several Premier League clubs rumored to be interested in Brazilian defender Murillo, a 21-year-old who has swiftly established himself as one of Forest’s most valuable assets. The centre-half has been linked with a cost of up to £40 million.
Forest used the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham last summer to defend themselves against the Premier League’s PSR charges, and the Londoners are also said to be interested in Gibbs-White, the attacking midfielder signed from Wolves for a club-record £25 million fee in the summer of 2022.
If Forest are forced to sell Gibbs-White, he will not have the advantage of being a homegrown player, like Johnson did when he moved to Spurs for £47.5 million in the summer of 2023. However, the England under-21 international is still one of Forest’s most marketable commodities, as evidenced by Arsenal’s rumored interest.
According to the Daily Star on Sunday, Mikel Arteta is currently well-stocked at the top, but the Spanish manager wants to reorganize his squad once the transfer window reopens.
“Emile Smith-Rowe, who has become a peripheral figure at the Emirates, is facing an exit, and versatile Gibbs-White has been shortlisted as a potential arrival who could fill his space in Arteta’s revamped squad.”
The 24-year-old Stafford-born Wolves academy product has made 28 top-flight appearances for Forest this season, scoring three goals and assisting five. In reality, he has not yet regained his brilliant form from last season, when he played a key role in keeping Forest in the top division after a 23-year absence, but this does not appear to have discouraged the Gunners.
According to The Telegraph, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side would demand more than £50 million for Gibbs-White. Despite persistent Financial Fair Play issues, it appears Forest will not accept ridiculous offers for their key players, and perhaps they do not need to.
Among the number-crunching done by the Athletic in the wake of Forest’s points loss, it was reported they “must find somewhere between £22m and £27m before the end of the current financial year to fall within the guidelines and avoid further sanctions”.
Assuming Lyon makes Orel Mangala’s loan move to France permanent and Forest sells some of its weaker assets, there may not be a City Ground fire sale after all.
