Nottingham Forest strike “verbal agreement” with “complete” £35m forward

Latest Nottingham Forest news as Nuno Espirito Santo’s Reds look ahead to start of 2025/26 Premier League season

Nottingham Forest fans have hit out at the price of tickets for the upcoming season’s curtain-raiser at the City Ground.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s Reds will get their 2025/26 Premier League campaign up and running at home to Brentford next month. The match will take place on Sunday, August 17 (2pm kick-off).

Forest have announced tickets will go on sale to MyForest Pro Members from 10am tomorrow (Monday, July 21). And they have provided details of the cost of securing a seat for the match.

The club said: “Tickets for Nottingham Forest’s 2025/26 Premier League opener against Brentford will go on sale from Monday morning. The Reds host the Bees on Sunday 17 August, at the new kick-off time of 2pm (BST) after the fixture was previously rescheduled. Adult ticket prices start from £50, with kids from £18 for this top-flight, Category A fixture.”

Adult tickets (for those aged 18-65) are listed as being from £50 to £70, while for seniors (66+) the cost is £40-55. Youth (14-17) tickets for the match are priced at £22-35 and child tickets (4-13) at £18-30.

The cost of attending the Brentford clash has not gone down well with many supporters. Below is a look at what Reds fans have said on social media.

@DNOnMAZ9: Happy to have been a season ticket holder for 20 odd years and not have to worry about matchday prices, but these prices are really getting way too high. £50 minimum for Brentford is awful. #nffc

@Nathan_NFFC06: Don’t understand why the Premier League. Cap away tickets but not home. You shouldn’t have to pay between 50-£70 for a game against Brentford (no disrespect) #nffc

@AlexNFFC: Forest know there is a demand for tickets so can charge these kinds of prices to profit off supporters’ loyalty. £50 minimum for an adult ticket is a disgrace, really. #NFFC

@MrTrickyTree: I’ve got a season ticket but this still sickens me. If such price increases continue, its only a matter of time before I throw in the towel. Its families I feel sorry for. Supporters contributions are such a minor element of overall revenues but fans increasingly exploited #NFFC

@chriswoodnumba1: Not far off a £100 day now if you’re parking in the council and having a few drinks #nffc

@GREENYPUNXI: Forest fans, we might as well talk pot noodles and monster munch flavours. Because that’s going to be our dinner next season if that’s the ticket prices. #NFFC

This doesn’t mean this transfer won’t happen, but it won’t happen soon.

Yesterday, at roughly the same time Tottenham Hotspur was playing against Reading, Nottingham Forest played a preseason friendly of their own, a scoreless draw against Monaco. Tottenham Hotspur target Morgan Gibbs-White started the match and nearly scored on a header. He’s kept his head down despite being at the center of one of the stories of the preseason — Tottenham’s £60m transfer bid for him, a number that meets his contracted release clause but which has resulted in Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis issuing a complaint against Spurs with the Premier League for an “illegal approach.”

Since then we haven’t really gotten many updates on the status of that complaint and whether it’s a legitimate grievance or merely a delay tactic from Forest. But Gibbs-White has notably refused to force the issue, instead reporting for Forest training and keeping his mouth shut.

Now, the Athletic is reporting that Gibbs-White is set to be named as part of the Nottingham Forest squad that will travel to Portugal on Monday for a preseason training camp. Aggregator accounts are calling this a “preseason tour” but while Forest will play against Liga NOS side Estoril Praia, on July 30 it’s mostly a warm-weather training camp and not a full tour.

Nevertheless, that would seem to put the kibosh on any hopes that Spurs might negotiate a deal with Forest over MGW’s transfer anytime soon. With Gibbs-White seemingly content to not rock the boat, it leaves his transfer in limbo, with no resolution anytime soon. We’ll have to see what that means — Spurs are already linked with Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, suggesting that Johan Lange and Tottenham’s recruitment team may be preparing to pivot to other targets. Or they may play the long game and wait to see if the Premier League rules in their favor before deciding what to do.

Strap in, because this looks like a SAGA that will not be resolved anytime soon.