Bryan King: Unai Emery wants Morgan Gibbs-White at Aston Villa – ‘Watch this space closely’
Aston Villa could make a move to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest in the summer.
The Villans will be hopeful of securing a place in the Champions League for next season with a top-five finish in the Premier League.
Unai Emery’s side currently sit third in the table and will be keen to maintain their footing just behind Manchester City and Arsenal in the title race.
If they are to take their spot back in Europe’s elite competition, quality reinforcements are going to be necessary to make a squad capable of fighting on all fronts.
That could see a swoop for Nottingham Forest ace Gibbs-White make complete sense, with Bryan King now advocating a move to Villa Park.
Unai Emery looking at Morgan Gibbs-White signing for Aston Villa
There are few occasions where Emery has picked out a signing himself, and they have proven to be a failure in B6.
Just look at Morgan Rogers as an example.
Who would have plucked a Championship-standard player and chucked him in at the deep end in the Premier League to produce a complete diamond?
Gibbs-White could be the latest name at Villa Park that the Spaniard is fortunate to get his wish in signing.
Former Villa scout King has suggested that the Englishman will represent the sort of player that the claret and blue outfit want this summer.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, King said: “I think Morgan Gibbs-White will be of interest to Villa.
“Emery wants a squad, he’s not looking for just 11 players, he wants 20. If they’re going to be in all these competitions, he will need that many.
“Gibbs-White is the sort of calibre he will be looking at.
“Watch this space closely.“
How much could Gibbs-White cost Aston Villa?
The attacking midfielder wasn’t cheap when he swapped the West Midlands for the East and joined Forest from Wolves in 2022.
The Reds paid £42.5million for Gibbs-White, a fee that certainly raised eyebrows at the time for a newly promoted side.
He has gone on to be worth that sort of fee with his level of importance at The City Ground over the years and that was recognised with a new contract in the summer.
He was involved in an utterly bizarre interview alongside Evangelos Marinakis after that news was made official, but if Forest are relegated, he surely won’t be sticking around.
Villa could therefore swoop in and bring the Englishman to B6, but would likely be looking at a fee in and around £50m for his signature this summer, if not more.
That all depends on what division Forest find themselves in ahead of the new season.
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