Nottingham Forest have reportedly agreed a £42.5m deal with Wolverhampton Wanderers for Morgan Gibbs-White.
When the newly-promoted side pushed through the signings of Emmanuel Dennis, Cheikhou Kouyate and Remo Freuler at the weekend, there was the perception that adding Gibbs-White to their ranks may now be out of their reach.
Forest have already had multiple bids for the England Under-21 international rejected by the West Midlands side, who were adamant that they wanted in excess of £30m.
However, according to The Athletic, Forest have now made the breakthrough with Wolves by agreeing to a proposal worth £42.5m, plus add-ons.
The report suggests that Wolves will initially receive a fee in the region of £25m with up to £10m coming in achievable add-ons over the coming weeks.
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While Wolves will hope to collect more money from other options in the deal, they are said to be more difficult to activate in the short term.
Should the 22-year-old complete a switch to the City Ground, he will become the club's 15th first-team signing since earning promotion from the Championship in May.
Forest will be looking to complete a deal before midday on Friday to enable Gibbs-White to come into the squad for the Premier League fixture at Everton on Saturday.
Steve Cooper is no stranger to working with the playmaker who helped England Under-17s win the World Cup at that age level in 2017.
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Gibbs-White will leave his boyhood club having made a total of 30 starts and 58 substitute appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals.
On the back of a hugely-successful loan spell at Sheffield United during 2021-22, Gibbs-White has been provided with successive starts in the Premier League by Bruno Lage.
However, the academy graduate's continued reluctance to extend his current contract past 2024 left Wolves aware that this summer represented the best opportunity to maximise a fee.
The club's hierarchy will also welcome the opportunity to balance the books after completing a club-record deal for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Matheus Nunes on Wednesday night.
Darren Plant
