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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
Sport
Matt Davies

Transfer fee pressure dismissed as Nottingham Forest signing labelled 'the difference'

Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis McGugan believes Morgan Gibbs-White can take his old club to another level.

The Reds smashed their club record fee to bring in Gibbs-White in a deal which could eventually earn Wolves £42million, with a £25m payment initially.

It is a huge sum for a player with one Premier League goal to his name, but McGugan says fans need to look beyond that and recognise the talent of a player who threatened to end Forest's promotion dream in the play-offs last season when with Sheffield United.

"I think he's the difference. What I've seen of him at Sheffield United last year, sometimes a player just has something that bit different. For me, he's that player you go and watch and say 'yeah, he's the difference'," he said on the latest Garibaldi Red podcast.

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"I like to think I used to play like him, a bit of a maverick. He's got the number 10 shirt and he's in that role where he'll give the changing room a boost.

"When you play against players you can see if they're a different level and the players who were there last season will know what he did in the second leg of the play-offs. Players like Worrall and Yates will think this is a very good signing, someone we want in our side definitely."

Gibbs-White scored 12 goals and registered 10 assists in 37 games on loan with Sheffield United last season. He was also Steve Cooper's top target having worked with the 22-year-old at England youth level.

Inevitably the fee has grabbed the headlines, but McGugan thinks the player will handle the spotlight on him well.

"It's just football now, it's the industry. There's a premium on English players. I don't think it will bother him in the slightest," he said.

"I don't know him personally but having been in the game for as long as I was, with him being that kind of player, I think he'll thrive on it. I think he'll use it as a motivation more than a hinderance."

Have Forest got a good deal for Gibbs-White? Have your say in the comments section below

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