Forest spree hits £140m

NOTTINGHAM FOREST have taken their spending to a remarkable £140million by landing boss Steve Cooper’s top target Morgan Gibbs-White for an initial £25million — their 16th summer signing. Wolves had turned down a number of bids for the attacking midfielder but finally relented yesterday, hours after breaking their own transfer record to sign Matheus Nunes from Sporting Lisbon for £38m. Gibbs-White (right) could be signed in time to make his debut at everton — another club who showed interest in him — tomorrow. As well as the £25m payment, Wolves will be entitled to an additional £7-10m if the 22-year-old hits certain achievable targets. The fee could even rise to around £40m if he reaches other, more remote, objectives. Cooper has worked with Gibbs-White before, with england’s World Cupwinning Under 17 squad, and took him to Swansea on loan during the 2020-21 campaign. Though Gibbs-White started Wolves’ opening league fixtures and impressed boss Bruno Lage in pre-season, he made it clear he did not intend to sign the new deal he was offered when he returned from last season’s loan stint at Sheffield United. With Gibbs-White in the final two years of his contract, Wolves felt this was the best time to cash in on a homegrown player. Gibbs-White is attractive to forest as he can play in a midfield three, as a wide forward, in a central role behind the strikers or even as a second striker, giving Cooper tactical flexibility. forest’s spending is unlikely to end there, with Cooper also targeting another forward despite signing both emmanuel Dennis from Watford and Taiwo Awoniyi from Union Berlin since promotion.