There is something almost poetic about this. Last summer, Tottenham Hotspur triggered the £60 million release clause in Morgan Gibbs-White’s contract and had him lined up for a medical.
Then Nottingham Forest, in one of the stranger sequences of events in recent transfer history, somehow convinced him to stay and signed him to a new deal.
Spurs then pivoted to Eberechi Eze as an alternative and Arsenal hijacked that too. Twelve months on, both players are at Arsenal. And now Arsenal are also looking at the player Tottenham originally wanted before Eze was even in the picture.
That is the context behind Arsenal’s interest in Morgan Gibbs-White this summer. This is not simply a Premier League champion looking to strengthen. This is Arsenal potentially completing a full sweep of attacking midfielders that Tottenham were desperate to sign last summer and ended up with none of.
What Gibbs-White has done since?
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If Tottenham’s failure to sign Gibbs-White last summer stings, consider how much more it stings after his 2025/26 season. The playmaker who was available for £60 million in July 2025 has since produced 15 Premier League goals, four assists, a Player of the Month award in April (four goals in three games) and a captain’s armband at the City Ground.
He did all of this and was still not selected for England’s World Cup squad, a decision that baffled virtually everyone who watched him play.
Nottingham Forest, vindicated in their decision to keep him, now want close to £125 million according to The Telegraph. That is the price of a summer spent making things right with Marinakis instead of boarding a plane to London for a medical. From Forest’s perspective, the gamble paid off spectacularly. From Tottenham’s perspective, the player they had on a £60 million clause is now being quoted at double that and Arsenal are the ones looking at him.
Why Arsenal want Morgan Gibbs-White?
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Arsenal won the Premier League title with a collective, organised, tactically disciplined side. But the knock on this team throughout the season and particularly in the Champions League final defeat to PSG is that they lack a player who can manufacture something from nothing when the team is not functioning. A player who picks up the ball in a tight space and beats a defender through pure individual quality rather than through positional rotation.
Eberechi Eze, signed last summer, adds a dimension of that creativity. But Eze is most effective as an inside forward, drifting from wide positions. What Arsenal do not yet have in abundance is a central attacking midfielder who drives at defenders, presses relentlessly from the front, and delivers double-digit goal contributions from between the lines. That is exactly Gibbs-White’s profile.
The Athletic confirmed last summer that Arsenal were considering Gibbs-White as one of their alternatives to Eze when the deal was being explored. The Gunners ultimately went for the Crystal Palace man because “he held most appeal.” But the fact Arsenal had Gibbs-White on a shortlist at that stage and that they are back looking at him twelve months later tells you the interest is genuine and long-standing, not an opportunistic flutter driven by transfer season speculation.
Goal reported this week that Arteta sees Gibbs-White as a high-quality alternative to primary target Morgan Rogers. He is not the first choice, but he is not a panic option either. He is a player Arsenal have tracked for over a year and believe could genuinely improve them.
Goal.com, June 2026: “Arsenal have reportedly added Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White to their summer transfer shortlist as Mikel Arteta searches for elite attacking reinforcements. Arteta sees the 26-year-old as a high-quality alternative to primary target Morgan Rogers.”
Why it is harder to sign Gibbs-White now than it would have been last summer
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The fee has doubled
Forest’s asking price is now £125m, more than double the £60m release clause Tottenham triggered last summer. Arsenal will not pay that figure.
Forest prefer PSG
Football Insider reports Forest would rather sell abroad to avoid playing against him. PSG are the preferred destination. Arsenal face an explicit structural disadvantage.
Rogers comes first
Arsenal’s primary attacking target is Morgan Rogers. Gibbs-White is an alternative, not a parallel pursuit. If Rogers is signed, the Gibbs-White conversation likely ends.
The Spurs irony
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The sheer scale of Tottenham’s misfortune last summer deserves documenting properly. They lost Gibbs-White after triggering his release clause. They lost Eze to Arsenal after having a broad agreement in place.
They signed Xavi Simons as a backup option who struggled with the pace and physicality of the Premier League. James Maddison ruptured his ACL in pre-season. Dejan Kulusevski had a patella problem. They ended the season in 17th place, finishing below Nottingham Forest ,the club they tried to sign a player from.
And now Arsenal (the club that took Eze off their hands last August) are back looking at Gibbs-White. The player Spurs had lined up for a medical. The player who, had the release clause transfer gone through, would have been wearing a Tottenham shirt. There is a certain Arsenal flavour to that sequence of events that will not be lost on anyone in N17.
Author Opinion
Arsenal looking at Morgan Gibbs-White is not a surprise. They were looking at him last summer before Eze became available. The profile fits. The timing, with Arteta hunting a Rogers-type creator, makes sense.
But this is a transfer that comes with enormous structural obstacles: a £125 million asking price, a seller who prefers PSG, and an Arsenal side for whom Gibbs-White is a plan B rather than a plan A. If Rogers falls through and Forest soften on their valuation which they might, given the contract expires in 2028 then Arsenal could move quickly.
If Rogers is signed and Forest hold firm, this one stays on the list and goes nowhere. Either way, the most satisfying element of the whole story is simple: the player Tottenham thought they had signed last summer might end up at Arsenal after all.
Related Items:Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur
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