Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White has held showdown talks with the club amid their dispute with Tottenham over their attempts to sign the midfielder for £60million.

Forest have pulled the brakes on Gibbs-White’s move to Spurs after accusing the North London club of an “illegal approach” for the England international.

In the mean time, Gibbs-White has returned to training at Forest and the club have shared pictures of him arriving at their base for the start of pre-season.

Gibbs-White was given extra time off after featuring for England last month. He has since spoken to the club over the dispute, the report says, and the saga is set to drag on across the summer after Forest told Spurs not to make any further contact with their player.

Gibbs-White is high in demand this summer after superb season with Forest that saw him score seven goals and lay on eight assists in the Premier League.

There were also links with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City before Tottenham became frontrunners and quickly lodged a bid.

Tottenham still hold out hope they will eventually seal a move for the England star

There is still optimism from Spurs that they can resolve the situation and get a deal done, with the feeling that Forest are only able to delay the transfer – not block it entirely.

Spurs have already made three signings this summer after the arrivals of £55m Mohammed Kudus from West Ham, while Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso were both signed on permanent deals.

New boss Thomas Frank took over from Ange Postecoglou last month and is eager to overhaul a struggling squad that finished 17th last season – and he will need quality options for the Champions League after the team won the Europa League.