Thomas Frank wanted to sign a new No.10 at Tottenham in the summer transfer window.
That much became clear when Spurs, almost out of nowhere, made a move to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest for £60million.
But what would follow would be one of the weirdest transfer sagas of recent times. Forest claimed Spurs had made an illegal approach, with the £60million bid the exact amount required to activate an alleged confidential release clause.
Forest then shut down all communication with Tottenham and threatened both Spurs and Gibbs-White’s agent with legal action.
Tottenham remained hopeful a deal would get done, but two weeks after that initial approach and Forest were announcing that the 25-year-old – who remained professional throughout the saga – was signing a new contract at the City Ground, with no release clause in it.
Spurs had failed to get their man for new head coach Frank and attentions will have to turn elsewhere as a result.
Frank was keen to add another No.10 to his ranks given James Maddison missed the end of last season with a knee injury and was only just making his return, while Dejan Kulusevski is sidelined after having surgery on his knee and will not be ready for the start of the Premier League season.
That desire for a new No.10 will only be heightened now after Maddison suffered a major injury setback.
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The England man has had limited game time in pre-season and came off the bench late on in Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Newcastle in South Korea.
Maddison’s time on the pitch did not last long, however, as he went down in a heap with a serious-looking knee injury. He was stretchered off the field of play with his hands over his face, clearly in agony and clearly emotional.
It was the same knee that he injured at the end of last season that ensured he missed playing in the UEFA Europa League final win over Manchester United in Bilbao.
Maddison was spotted leaving the Seoul World Cup Stadium on crutches and with his right knee in a brace. He had his hood up, looking despondent as he left the ground.
Having missed out on Gibbs-White in crazy fashion, Spurs will now likely head into the transfer market for another player who can fill the void. Eberechi Eze was lionked earlier on in the transfer window, although football.london reported that was a deal that was highly unlikely to happen, probably because of Spurs’ interest in Gibbs-White.
Now they may go back in for the Crystal Palace man, who has been heavily linked with Arsenal in recent weeks.
