The stunning £60m Nottingham Forest deal that could see club forget all about FFP concerns

One would think Nottingham Forest is secure. Premier League football will return to the City Ground in the following season, assuming they win their Sunday afternoon match against Burnley and Luton Town doesn’t defeat Fulham by the same score. Of course, stranger things have happened than that improbable twelve-goal swing, but not often or in large quantities.

But Forest’s troubles this summer might not end with a relegation struggle. The Midlands club is under pressure from strict regulatory bodies and may be coming to terms with the fact that one or more of their star players may be traded during the transfer window in order to balance the books. The Midlands club has already lost points this season due to financial irregularities.
Among those most frequently mentioned for a sale is Morgan Gibbs-White. Although the playmaker has had a significant impact on Forest throughout their Premier League tenure, his abundance of quality is, paradoxically, what makes him such a strong contender to leave the team. Few players on Nuno Espirito Santo’s team are as good as he is, and even fewer could command such a high price all at once.

In fact, Forest has placed a £60 million price tag on their creative talisman, according to a Football Insider report. Journalist Pete O’Rourke stated on the Inside Track podcast of the online publication that the team anticipated “massive” interest in the midfield player over the next few weeks and that they thought he was their “most sellable asset.”

As he attempts to break into the senior England squad in the near future, it is implied that Gibbs-White would be open to the idea of a move as well. Undoubtedly, considering that teams like Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in him, you would think that if a transfer were to occur, it would significantly increase his profile in the English game.

Between those two teams, Spurs are reportedly the ones pursuing a player who has five goals and ten assists in 36 Premier League games this year. But from Forest’s point of view, it hardly matters where he ends up. Rather, what counts is who can offer the highest price for his services while still giving them the greatest margin of safety.

In the end, though, no sane person connected to Forest would want the 24-year-old to leave the City Ground this summer; he is the pivot around which a great deal of his team’s finest work revolves, and he seems to be assuming the role of Nuno’s leading man with each passing month. However, Forest, mired in their own financial turmoil, is in dire need of a scapegoat in order to absorb the swelling. Without a doubt, Gibbs-White would be the most profitable—and hence, most efficient—method of achieving precisely that.

Although it might irritate and sting a little, Forest might not have many options. Even though it may be excruciating, selling Gibbs-White can help them tremendously in resolving their issues.