Wolves have rejected Nottingham Forest’s club-record bid for Morgan Gibbs-White, a package worth about £35m including add-ons.
Bruno Lage, the Wolves head coach, insists the midfielder is key to his plans and will start at Leeds on Saturday “fit and motivated to do his best game”. Wolves have knocked back three bids from Forest this summer for the 22-year-old, who excelled on loan at Sheffield United last season.
Lage was noncommittal on the future of Conor Coady, who could depart in search of regular game time before the World Cup. Lage is a huge fan of the England defender but the Wolves captain is set to be a victim of Lage’s change of system, with the Portuguese keen to operate with a back four rather than a three-man defence this season.
Gibbs-White, who has also attracted interest from Everton and Crystal Palace, has been a key target for Steve Cooper, the Forest head coach. Cooper worked with him when in charge of England age group teams and when the player was on loan at Swansea.
Gibbs-White scored 11 goals in 35 league appearances last season but missed the penalty in the playoff semi-final that sent Forest to the final, which they went on to win against Huddersfield.
Forest have been the most active Premier League side in the transfer market this summer, already signing 12 players. They broke their transfer record this summer with their first arrival, the £17m striker Taiwo Awoniyi.
They are also in the market for a central midfielder, with Real Betis’s William Carvalho one target.
