Morgan Gibbs-White’s shock transfer to Tottenham seems to have caught everyone at Nottingham Forest by surprise, including an incredibly frustrated Evangelos Marinakis.
Forest fans were upset by the Gibbs-White news as yet another of Nuno Espírito Santo’s top stars is set to depart the City Ground, after Anthony Elanga’s move to Newcastle United.
The move materialised rapidly after it was revealed that Gibbs-White had a £60m release clause in his contract, leaving the Reds unable to even negotiate a competitive fee for their top star.
Earlier in the window, Gibbs-White had a £100m price tag on him with Manchester City circling, but with the surprise of this release clause, Marinakis is reportedly far from pleased.
Evangelos Marinakis is fuming over Morgan Gibbs-White release clause
Gibbs-White hadn’t shown an interest in signing a new deal and perhaps the presence of this release clause was part of his reluctance, keeping the door open for a move to a Champions League club.
According to journalist Alex Crook on talkSPORT, Marinakis, in particular, has been blindsided by the news, blaming his former recruitment team for the costly mishap in the Gibbs-White contract.
Crook said: “From what I’m being told this morning, Marinakis is not particularly enamoured with his former recruitment team. They signed a player for £42.5m and agreed on a £60m release clause; those two numbers don’t really add up.”
Back when Forest signed Gibbs-White, then Head of Recruitment George Syrianos was sacked by Marinakis after a review into his summer business. Syrianos was subsequently brought back by Marinakis as a Technical Advisor, but will be feeling the wrath of the Forest owner currently.
Recently, Edu was announced as Forest’s Global Head of Football to oversee the recruitment process, but he cannot be blamed for the Gibbs-White situation.
Edu isn’t to blame for the Morgan Gibbs-White situation
Edu must be in disbelief at how his first week at the City Ground has gone, with his first task of finding a replacement for Elanga now somehow overshadowed by Gibbs-White’s departure.
Already, Forest are looking at James McAtee as a replacement for the midfielder, and Nottingham Forest News understands that McAtee is open to a move to Forest this summer.
Of course, Edu will be judged by who he identifies as Gibbs-White’s successor, but the blame for the release clause lies firmly with the recruitment team led by Syrianos back in 2022 for agreeing to a clause that put the club immediately on the back foot.
The former Arsenal chief now has the opportunity to truly endear himself to the City Ground faithful if he can get these replacements right. If not, his reputation within the fanbase will take some recovering.
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