Nottingham Forest's £42.5million signing of Morgan Gibbs-White reportedly "alarmed" Arsenal in their pursuit of Wolves winger Pedro Neto.
The Reds completed the signing of the England under-21 international after spending most of the summer linked with the midfielder. Gibbs-White was one of Steve Cooper's main targets after promotion to the Premier League and the move was completed towards the end of August.
Forest could pay up to £42.5m for the attacker due to the potential add-ons agreed. But the initial fee was believed to be £25m.
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According to The Athletic, Forest's signing of Gibbs-White "alarmed" Mikel Arteta's side as they weighed up a bid for Neto. Arsenal had become a possible destination for the Portuguese towards the end of the transfer market, but the deal never came to fruition.
The report claims that the Reds' move for Gibbs-White made Arsenal fear that Bruno Lage's side would "bump up" Neto's price after already receiving a hefty transfer fee. Neto has been one of Wolves' key players in the past year, while Gibbs-White spent last season on loan at Sheffield United, meaning a higher fee could have been demanded.
Wolves replaced Gibbs-White with the signing of Matheus Nunes for an initial £38 million and never looked like allowing Neto to leave the club in the end.
Do you think Forest got a good deal for Gibbs-White? Let us know in the comments section.
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