Morgan Gibbs-White Tottenham transfer latest and five ways the saga can end

Morgan Gibbs-White's transfer from Nottingham Forest to Tottenham remains in limbo in a week in which the England international has been excused from travelling to Portugal with Nuno Espirito Santo's side.

Tottenham launched a £60million release clause-triggering bid for the 25-year-old 10 days ago with a medical planned the following day. However, as football.london reported at the time, Gibbs-White never made his way down to Hotspur Way after Forest's unhappiness and that of their owner Evangelos Marinakis was made very clear to him and his representatives.

The Midlands side believed an illegal approach had been made and that the confidential details of the midfielder's release clause had been disclosed with suggestions that Spurs made the exact bid required to trigger it.

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While Forest have not made an official complaint to the Premier League as of yet, they are believed to have written to both Spurs and Gibbs-White's agent, putting both parties on legal notice - essentially threatening legal action. Officially both clubs have not said anything about the situation and when football.london contacted the Premier League for their stance on the saga they made it clear that they would not be commenting or providing guidance on what is happening.

For his part, Gibbs-White returned to training as expected last week and has done all that is expected of him at his club, despite wanting to make the move to north London and resisting all contract talks with Forest for months. He played in the first half of Saturday's 0-0 draw with Monaco and as he came off the pitch, he applauded and made a heart sign with his hands to those Forest fans singing his name.

Gibbs-White was not on the plane as Forest departed on Monday for a pre-season tour of Portugal, with games against Fulham and Estoril Praia on Saturday, July 26 and Wednesday, July 30 respectively. The reason for his absence was not believed to be transfer or football related and instead was a private matter that the midfielder had communicated to his club.

The previous day his pregnant fiancée and influencer Britney De Villiers had shared a photo to her followers on Instagram from a hospital bed while speaking about the stress and difficulties involved with a high-risk pregnancy.

The current expectation at Forest is that Gibbs-White will join up with Nuno Espirito Santo and the squad in Portugal later in the week and that nothing has changed in regards to any potential move to Spurs.

So beyond that return to Forest, how does this transfer saga get resolved one way or another? Here are five potential outcomes.

Tottenham push through the deal

One scenario is that Tottenham find they have the legal backing to go through with the original deal and that nothing has contravened that, meaning the release clause is triggered and Gibbs-White completes the original move to the north London outfit.

Spurs have had a long-term interest in the midfielder and new head coach Thomas Frankhas also wanted him since his Wolves days, believing he can be the perfect mobile and creative number 10 within his system.

Tottenham do not believe they have done anything wrong in this situation and pushing through with this option would seemingly confirm that.

Spurs pay more

Another option is that in order to get the deal pushed through faster, Tottenham pay over that original release clause to smooth over the problems and give Frank his new midfielder as quickly as possible.

Nobody really wants any legal side to the deal to drag on, but it's hard to see why Spurs would submit an increased offer if they believe the release clause is valid and that they have done nothing wrong, other than to get better instalment terms?

There is also the issue that going back to the negotiating table would involve communications between the two clubs restarting after Forest had shut them down in the first place.

Forest thought Gibbs-White's release clause valued him too low in today's market so have been trying to get it either increased or removed through a new contract that would have made him the club's highest earner, but the player has not entertained such talks over the past year.

Gibbs-White kicks up a fuss

Another potential avenue to be taken is that Gibbs-White puts his foot down and launches his own legal counter if he deems the current limbo as a refusal to activate the release clause originally agreed in his contract.

With the midfielder doing everything asked of him by Forest and reportedly training well at his club and playing in Saturday's friendly, this avenue would seem an unlikely one for a player who has two years left on his contract and will not want to depart from Nottingham with a cloud hanging over him.

Gibbs-White stays

There are three sides to this option. One is that Forest's legal standpoint is found to be valid and that blocks any potential move to north London for the player.

The other side is that Gibbs-White simply feels it's all too much hassle this summer and decides to stay and focus on a season that brings with it Europa League football at Forest and with just over 23 months left on his contract he will be in a stronger position next summer to get a move that he wants.

The third side of this one is Tottenham eventually get frustrated with waiting and move on to another target, albeit disappointed that they could not get someone so highly rated by Frank.

Another club swoops in

Probably the most frustrating scenario for Tottenham and their fans is that another club swoops in and manages to sign Gibbs-White this summer with Forest being more amenable to dealing with them after recent events.

Manchester City were linked with the England international towards the end of last season and into this summer. There has long been rumblings of a potential PSR-boosting deal for both clubs, involving Gibbs-White going in one direction and 22-year-old City academy product James McAtee heading to Forest plus money.

Much will depend on where Gibbs-White wants to go and also that release clause and whether it remains valid, for if it does then any club able to, within the terms of it, could technically trigger the player's release so why pay over the odds?

All eyes are on which scenario comes to pass.

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