Morgan Gibbs-White mouthed ‘one more game’ at Nottingham Forest’s joyous away fans at the London Stadium following their win at West Ham United last weekend.
The celebrating contingent from the East Midlands understood exactly what he meant. The prospect of a Champions League winner-takes-all scenario is not guaranteed by any stretch - but every single member among that gleeful throng would have taken this deal at the start of the season.
Beat Chelsea this weekend - and hope either Newcastle United and Aston Villa fail to do likewise against Everton and Manchester United respectively - and one of the most improbable stories of the season will have a very happy ending.
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Morgan Gibbs-White ahead of a Nottingham Forest game
Presumably, Gibbs-White’s ’one more game’ referred to Nottingham Forest’s campaign - rather than his own career at the City Ground. But it could be framed as such.
Is it too simplistic to bill the Tricky Trees' last game this season as one that could also affect the 25-year-old’s future? Win - and the chance of him staying increases exponentially. Lose - and the spectre of Manchester City hovering in the background looms even larger above Nuno Espirito Santo and this crop of players.
Their immediate displeasure at failing to reach their goal exacerbated with the apprehension of what happens next. At this stage, the realities of football would be pointing Gibbs-White in a different direction - towards the exit door.
Morgan Gibbs-White's statistics for Nottingham Forest this season
It’s an uncomfortable truth that the likes of Manchester City, with their financial power, can turn heads. In general terms, Gibbs-White is earning around £100,000-a-week. Travel across from the A52 and up the M6 and that figure doubles, easily.
There are those who think that finances don’t play a part with affairs of the heart, but footballers aren’t among them. That kind of discrepancy matters. Multiply it by 52 to make up one year and then by five across the length of the contract. No matter how deep the bond, it isn’t going to cut it when you are asking someone - anyone - to take a potential £25million hit.
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Kevin De Bruyne in action for Manchester City
There is a gaping hole at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. When murals are painted upon the sides of houses with any player depicted upon them, something special has taken place.
The fanfare that accompanied Kevin De Bruyne’s last home game for the Sky Blues against Bournemouth on Tuesday night was loud, long and thoroughly deserved. The Belgian will be bracketed as a 'modern great'.
Fewer have done more to transform Manchester City from being new kids on the block to powerhouses on a domestic and world stage. Those are the shoes Gibbs-White could be looking to fill.
But what is it that the former World Cup winner with England’s Under-17s and European Championship hero with the Under-21s has to offer?
Seven goals in 39 appearances so far this season doesn’t tell the story. For a start, he is the bind that ties Nottingham Forest together.
Never mind the goals of Chris Wood or the pace which Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga use to such devastating effect, it is the Wolverhampton Wanderers academy graduate that the club revolves around.
Former boss Steve Cooper believed in Gibbs-White sufficiently to spend £25million on him, a fee which will no doubt rise now that Nottingham Forest have qualified for a European competition next season.
There were plenty who believed that the decision-makers at Molineux had the better end of the deal. But Cooper had managed Gibbs-White to glory in India in an Under-17s side that also included the likes of Manchester City’s Phil Foden. And Nuno was the manager who gave the precocious teenager his debut while he was in charge of the Black Country club.
It wasn’t against just any old team, either. It was the Chelsea of seven years ago. A fully-functioning outfit, still capable of challenging the best.
Into the mix was tossed the playmaker. And he delivered, creating an assist for Raul Jimenez in a 2-1 victory. While fortuitous circumstances have paired player and manager together again at the City Ground, that same confidence remains.
Can it be a coincidence that he was given the armband under Lee Carsley? It has been handed to him at the City Ground, too. He may be 25 years of age - and there are several players around him who are his senior - but leadership comes in many forms. It’s all pointing to the fact that he is ready to step up.
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Morgan Gibbs-White celebrating after a goal for Nottingham Forest
But Gibbs-White clearly does care about Nottingham Forest. It comes through in everything he does. For example, he is one of the few who regularly stops outside the old Jubilee Club where the players wander past to collect their cars to sign autographs for the kids after matches. Sadly, plenty don’t.
And it comes through in other ways, too. The average fan might think that it’s a good PR gesture when, having been gifted the opening goal against West Ham last week, he ran to hold up the jersey of stricken teammate Taiwo Awoniyi.
In the joy of the moment, you need to have something about you to race to find a shirt on the side of the pitch with your pal’s name on it. But that’s what good captains do. Nottingham Forest have been blessed in that department with Ryan Yates holding that office with distinction.
However, Gibbs-White’s name is always going to be one of the first on the team sheet. It somehow seems fitting that the finale to all of this will be played out on Sunday at the City Ground.
“We’re going to fight to the end,” said the Tricky Trees' skipper after the victory over West Ham. “We’re at home, the City Ground will be rocking and we will need the fans. We will plan this week how we are going to go into the game, but we will be fighting.”
Fighting for the cause. For Europe. If Nottingham Forest do make it, then Gibbs-White will have a choice to make.
Champions League football brings new riches. It could bring a new deal. And it could secure the future of Gibbs-White at Nottingham Forest for a long time. For him, the stakes could hardly be higher.
All statistics courtesy of Sofascore - correct as of 22/05/2025.
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