Morgan Gibbs-White is heading to Tottenham Hotspur.
The 25-year-old has been the subject of plenty of transfer speculation over the recent months, ever since Pep Guardiola had a chat with Gibbs-White in front of the cameras after Man City’s FA Cup semi-final win over Nottingham Forest.
At one point, it looked certain that Gibbs-White would be a Man City player ahead of the 2025/26 Premier League season; however, a move was never made, and instead, the Manchester club added Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki to their squad.
Fabrizio Romano has now chipped in on why an offer was never submitted to Nottingham Forest, which has led to the midfielder completing a move to Tottenham.
Pep Guardiola and Morgan Gibbs-White after Nottingham Forest v Manchester City.
Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Man City wanted multiple stars over Morgan Gibbs-White
Romano initially reported that Man City thought a deal for Gibbs-White was too expensive, as Nottingham Forest originally wanted around £100m for the midfielder, but that fee eventually dropped down to £70m.
It has also been reported that Man City knew negotiations with Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, were unlikely to run smoothly, and with the Manchester club wanting a new midfielder in before travelling to the FIFA Club World Cup, they opted to move for Reijnders instead.
More Man City News
There may be multiple reasons for City walking away from Gibbs-White; however, Romano has stated that their reason for doing so was simple, as the Manchester club wanted to use the £70m they were quoted for the midfielder on addressing multiple issues, rather than just signing one.
“Morgan Gibbs-White was on the list of Manchester City during the beginning of the summer transfer window, but then they decided to go for a different strategy,” Romano said on his YouTube channel.
“Instead of spending big in that position, they wanted to spend the money on several positions, so they signed Rayan Cherki for the creative attacking midfielder, and now Morgan Gibbs-White is going to Tottenham Hotspur.”
Man City fans think missing out on Gibbs-White may come back to haunt them; however, they should be happy with the additions of both Reijnders and Cherki.
Tijjani Reijnders pointing during Manchester City v Wydad AC at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
How Morgan Gibbs-White compares to Tijjani Reijnders
Gibbs-White and Reijnders are similar players as they are both number eights who like to be involved in the attacking side of the game.
The Dutch star is the more well-rounded out of the two and can essentially do everything in midfield, but there is an argument to be made that the Englishman is better in the final third of the pitch, despite the Man City star scoring more last season.
Player Games Goals Assists Minutes
Morgan Gibbs-White 38 7 10 3142
Tijjani Reijnders 57 15 5 4861
Morgan Gibbs-White and Tijjani Reijnders’ 24/25 stats
The beauty of the route City went down is that they have addressed this by signing Cherki. Instead of signing an attacking number eight, who can also play as a number 10, they have signed two stars who, between them, can play in every midfield position and out wide.