What Bruno Lage has said about Morgan Gibbs-White in response to Nottingham Forest bids

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Bruno Lage has given his response to the news that the club have turned down a third bid from Nottingham Forest for Morgan Gibbs-White and reinforced the team’s desire to keep him.

Gibbs-White has been attracting vast interest so far this summer from numerous teams, most notably Everton and Nottingham Forest - and despite the latter’s eagerness to complete a deal for the midfielder, the gold and black are holding firm with their ‘not for sale’ stance.

The latest bid, believed to be a fee that would total around £35million has been rebuffed by Wolves and Lage is adamant that the 22-year-old is happy at Molineux and will be an ‘important player’ for the club this season.

Speaking ahead of Wanderers’ Premier League opener away at Leeds United on Saturday, Lage discussed the reasoning behind the club rejecting a third bid from Forest.

“We reject because like I’m saying since this first day I was here, I remember one year ago when we talked about Morgan - I said I will not treat Morgan as a kid,” he explained.

“I remember his first goal - it was against Brighton and I think I was there the first time he played for the first team because I was on the other bench when I was at Sheffield Wednesday.

“I said to him to stay in September. I said to him to stay in August and today I can say he’s an important player for me and for the dynamic that we are building and for the future of Wolves and he feels important also. He’s happy. The way he plays shows me this. The way he works every day in training shows me that.

“When you have this connection with a manager and player and a player and his teammates, everything is good. We want the player with us.”

“Yes,” Lage added when asked if Gibbs-White would be available for selection against Leeds. “[He’s] fit and motivated to do his best in the game.”