The sneaky swap deal that could help both Spurs and Nottingham Forest get exactly what they want

There hasn’t been much action in the week since the Guardian initially revealed that Tottenham Hotspur was considering acquiring Callum Hudson-Odoi from Nottingham Forest due to his outstanding play at the end of the season. Given how early in the window it is, that is not particularly surprising, but it would also not be shocking if negotiations were difficult.

This is partially because, despite being in a precarious financial situation due to Premier League profit and sustainability regulations—violations of which resulted in point deductions this season—Forest would be reluctant to let go of the elite players whose goals have kept them in the game. They will need to find replacements, which takes time, if they lose players like Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Although Hudson-Odoi only cost £3 million when he joined Forest last summer, the team would still make a healthy profit on any sale. Nevertheless, this does not mean that a similarly constrained budget will not need to be used to replace him. They may have hit gold once, but that doesn’t always imply that success will come again.

However, one potential solution could be found in the very Spurs negotiations they most likely fear. Because the North London team has some dead weight to shed before making a new push for the Champions League spots, they also need to strengthen their attacking line. Two players could easily be used as makeweights in a deal for Hudson-Odoi.

Right now, Bryan Gil is all empty promises and scant tangible outcomes. He came from Spain to some fanfare, but he hasn’t lived up to the hype and is currently a long way down the Spurs hierarchy. Even so, he is still a deft, quick winger who can provide Hudson-Odoi with a comparable direct threat and match him in skill and dribbling, if not goals and final product just yet.

Gil would undoubtedly be a step down given his recent performance, but he’s hardly much less of a salvage job than the player he could replace. They could package him into a deal with Spurs, probably with everyone’s approval, and give themselves a chance to replace the player they’re selling while also making money and avoiding adding anything to the balance sheet’s spending column.

Gil isn’t the only player at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium who is surplus to requirements that could be useful in a deal of this kind. Although Giovani Lo Celso appeared to be headed for a departure after starting just four games under Ange Postecoglou last season, his raw stats indicate that he is still playing at a very high level.

Lo Celso was one of the Spurs team’s top creators and goal scorers on a per-game basis. Considering the numbers he produced in his limited playing time, it’s surprising he wasn’t given more opportunities. Nevertheless, the Argentine is currently only a depth option at Spurs. That is probably not how things work at the City Ground.

Despite the fact that he is not a natural winger and would have a completely different role than Hudson-Odoi, he possesses the creative ability to improve the team in a similar manner and could easily give the Forest attack the missing element. They just don’t have an attacking midfielder with his passing range or level of vision. Although he may not be a sure thing given his past struggles at Spurs, he seems like a risk worth taking. Forest previously took a chance on Giovanni Reyna in January, probably in the hopes of finding that extra offensive spark that Lo Celso might just be able to provide.

Naturally, this is all theory and conjecture, but it’s not often that two teams work together to solve problems quite this neatly. Without causing too much trouble for the accounts department, Spurs secure their man and Forest acquire a potential replacement. Although it’s likely that Forest has already made plans for the probable departures of some of its best players, don’t be surprised if there are plans to trade horses with the buying clubs.