Manchester City were “ready to match” Tottenham’s offer for Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, according to journalist Graeme Bailey.

Spurs activated the England international’s £60m release clause yesterday, and he is set to complete his move to the North London club imminently. However, speaking to TBRFootball, Bailey said that the Cityzens would have made a move for Gibbs-White if the player hadn’t already signalled his desire to join Thomas Frank’s side:

“There were multiple clubs in talks but Morgan Gibbs-White made it clear he wanted Tottenham”

“Man City were ready to match any deal, but the player wants Spurs. That’s also why other clubs did not step up.”

Gibbs-White was a top target before Man City decided to pivot

It was confirmed back in April that Pep Guardiola’s side had targeted the midfielder, along with Florian Wirtz.

However, the decision was made by the club, with Director of Football Hugo Viana involved, to use the funds that could have gone towards buying Gibbs-White on Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki instead.

It was felt that giving Guardiola more options in midfield was the right approach. It remains to be seen whether that choice will pay off in the long run.

The existence of the release clause in Gibbs-White was not well known

When it was first reported that City were interested in signing the 25-year-old, it was claimed that Forest were demanding anything between £70m and £100m for the player.

If City were aware that he would only cost £60m, they may have made a move for him earlier. Tottenham appear to have had some inside knowledge, due to the fact that they had a good relationship with Gibbs-White’s representatives.

In other news, Man City only have a few days to trigger the £21.5m release clause in the contract of a transfer target