Everton fight to sign Morgan Gibbs-White amid developments at Wolves and Nottingham Forest
Developments in the last 48 hours look to have had a major bearing on Everton and their fight to sign Morgan Gibbs-White.
The Toffees bid £25million for the Wolves attacker, but had the offer turned down with the Midlands side aware of their history of overpaying [Sky Sports].
There is strong interest from elsewhere in the Premier League, with Nottingham Forest reported to have made a club-record approach for the 22-year-old [90min].
Working in the Toffees’ favour on that front is the fact that the newly-promoted side secured free agent Jesse Lingard on Thursday night (21 July) after the former Everton target agreed to a deal worth close to £200,000-a-week [Guardian].
Having smashed their wage structure to do so it now seems very unlikely that they would be ready to break their transfer record once again this summer to bring in a player who operates in similar areas.
Crystal Palace are another strong competitor in the race for the player who performed so well on loan in the Championship with Sheffield United last season, but his parent club might be the biggest stumbling block now.
Guardian journalist Ed Aarons wrote on his personal Twitter account on Thursday night: “Told that Palace have a strong interest in signing Morgan Gibbs-White but Wolves unlikely to sell him this summer unless they receive a very big offer…”
That comes after the midfielder shone in Wolves’ 4-0 preseason victory over Alaves on Wednesday.
He is making an impression back at Molineux, with teammate Pedro Neto saying after the game, via Express & Star: “Morgan is a player that is easy to play with because he likes to combine, he likes to come inside, he likes to play with the team, and he comes here to improve the team.”
The fact that Gibbs-White hasn’t signed accepted a new contract offers a glimmer of hope to Frank Lampard but with Bruno Lage wanting him to stay [Birmingham Live], and having plans to use him in the Premier League despite allowing him to leave on loan last term, it is making it harder to prize him away.
The Toffees aren’t in a position to pay the big money that would sway the matter right now, but if the England under-21 international suggests he won’t be extending his deal they may be pressed to sell while his price is as high as it is.
For now it remains to be seen how long Kevin Thelwell sticks with the deal but Goodison News pundit Kevin Campbell is growing frustrated and feels it is time to move on.