Manchester City have reportedly shifted their focus to Nottingham Forest’s attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White as their top target for the summer, sources have revealed to GIVEMESPORT.
Exclusive: Man City Turn to £100m Gibbs-White After Pulling Out of Wirtz Deal
The decision comes after City pulled out of the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz due to the eye-watering costs involved in the potential transfer.
Wirtz had long been on City’s radar as a potential successor to Kevin De Bruyne, but a deal to sign the German playmaker could have cost the Premier League champions up to €300 million (£250m) including fees, wages, and bonuses.
With that valuation deemed too steep, Pep Guardiola’s side are now pursuing a more viable option in Gibbs-White, who has enjoyed a standout campaign with Nottingham Forest.
Gibbs-White has blossomed into a key player for Forest since joining from Wolves in 2022.
This season, he’s made 33 Premier League appearances, registering eight assists—ranking second in the squad—and consistently pulling the creative strings with 1.5 key passes per game.
The 24-year-old’s rise has not gone unnoticed. His creativity, vision, and flair have made him a central figure in Forest’s push to European football, and City view him as a strong candidate to add attacking depth, especially as De Bruyne approaches the twilight of his career.
Sources suggest City are now frontrunners in the race to sign Gibbs-White, although Forest are expected to demand a hefty fee—potentially in the region of £100 million—for the two-time England international.
Despite that, the financial package would still fall well below the total cost of signing Wirtz, making it a more pragmatic option for the Etihad side.
With Bayern Munich now leading the race for Wirtz, and Liverpool monitoring the situation closely, City have wasted no time in moving on—and Morgan Gibbs-White could be their marquee signing of the summer.
