Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw by Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon, and the game may well have been a great advert for one player that the Red Devils should try to sign.
Neither side looked great in the first half, but a controversial corner was headed home by a revitalised Casemiro to give Man United the lead at the break.
However, Nottingham Forest came out firing after the interval and stormed into the lead thanks to a Morgan Gibbs-White header and a Nicolo Savona strike. A superb Amad Diallo goal levelled the scores late on to give both sides a share of the spoils.
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It is thought Forest plan to thwart any approaches for Elliot Anderson, which may be disappointing for United, but after seeing what Gibbs-White is capable of today, the Old Trafford outfit may be keen on him instead of his colleague.
Bruno Fernandes during Liverpool v Manchester United - Premier League
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Morgan Gibbs-White can be Bruno Fernandes 2.0
Gibbs-White has been on an upward trajectory in his career over the last couple of seasons, and there’s no reason he can’t be picked up by one of the Big Six in the Premier League in the near future.
Not only did he score against United today with a nice header, but Gibbs-White also dominated in the air for much of the game; he won four of his seven duels in the air, as well as another on the ground, too.
Statistics Morgan Gibbs-White vs Man Utd
Touches 45
Goals 1
Key passes 2
Successful dribbles 1
Duels won 5
Shots 2
Pass success 66%
Data via SofaScore
Gibbs-White is very much an all-round midfielder who is able to link defence and attack for Forest so superbly. He can tackle and break up play, he can progress the ball further up the pitch with an array of passing, he can take people on and make things happen in dangerous areas, and he’s an influential leader on the pitch.
In many ways, Gibbs-White is the perfect successor to Bruno Fernandes. When the time comes for United to part ways with their captain, I can think of no better replacement for Fernandes than the Nottingham Forest man.
Morgan Gibbs-White during a friendly between Nottingham Forest and Monaco
Photo by Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Morgan Gibbs-White has outgrown Nottingham Forest, but there’s one issue
Over the summer, Gibbs-White saw a move to Spurs collapse at the last minute, before quickly signing a new contract with Forest.
It’s that new contract that may just hold Gibbs-White back from the transfer move he deserves in the future. We know he had a release clause in his previous deal, but that is more than likely gone now.
The only hope for Gibbs-White of getting a fairly clean exit from Nottingham Forest — if that is what he wants, of course — is if the club gets relegated this season.
With international aspirations, the Forest man will need to be playing at the very top level if he has any hopes of being involved in the World Cup next summer and any tournaments beyond that. Given their current plight, he isn’t going to achieve that with Nottingham Forest.