Nottingham Forest, after consulting with lawyers, has decided to take action, claiming that Tottenham Hotspur never obtained permission to negotiate with Morgan Gibbs-White over a transfer, rendering all their negotiations an unlawful approach.
Forest also argues that there has been a breach of confidentiality regarding Gibbs-White’s release clause.
Gibbs-White was poised to join Tottenham Hotspur; previously, Spurs had indicated an intention to activate the 25-year-old’s £60 million release clause in his contract. However, Forest’s appeal halted the deal.
Gibbs-White was scheduled to undergo a medical with Tottenham on Friday, but the attacking midfielder instead joined Forest for pre-season training on Monday morning. Forest posted photos of Gibbs-White arriving at the training ground on social media.
The Premier League has not yet announced the final outcome of the case, but Tottenham manager Thomas Frank hopes to sign Gibbs-White before the team flies to Hong Kong for their pre-season tour on July 28 and their friendly match against Arsenal three days later.
Tottenham have declined to comment on Forest’s legal action.
Upon learning of Tottenham’s interest in signing Gibbs-White, who has two years left on his contract, Forest cut off all communication with the club.
Forest officials claim that Tottenham violated Premier League Rule T.1, which states that any club wishing to negotiate with a player under contract must first obtain written permission from the player’s current club before making contact.
The rule also specifies that any club approaching a contracted player directly or indirectly without such permission is in breach and may face disciplinary action.
