Wolverhampton Wanderers didn’t enjoy the greatest of success earlier this season, both on and off the pitch.
Former manager Bruno Lage won just once in the Premier League before being sacked at the start of October, with several of his big-money signings, including Goncalo Guedes and Matheus Nunes not hitting the ground running straight away.
This combination of poor results and splashing the cash on talents who couldn’t quite settle was arguably the main reason the Portuguese coach lost his job, yet selling Morgan Gibbs-White during the transfer window could have also played an inadvertent role, especially with events that have transpired over the previous six months.
What has Morgan Gibbs-White done since leaving Wolves?
The Englishman had risen through the youth ranks at the Old Gold while even claiming World Cup glory for England U17s back in 2017 before making his first-team debut at the start of the 2018/1019 campaign.
Overall, he made just 12 Premier League starts for the Molineux side, never really living up to the early promise as he was progressing through the youth ranks.
A move to newly promoted Nottingham Forest in the summer for a staggering £42.5m may have represented a fee Lage couldn’t turn down, yet he has thrived at the club and proved that the 46-year-old made a huge mistake.
Two goals and four assists may not be outstanding, however, these returns see him ranked second in the Forest squad and it isn’t just goals and assists that he is contributing to the team either.
The 23-year-old ranks first for key passes made per game (1.9), successful dribbles per match (1.4), total shots per game (1.9), and big chances created (five) while featuring in the top five for overall rating (6.98), suggesting that his move has been a success when judging by his all-round performances.
No Wolves player is managing more key passes created per game than Gibbs-White, whilst only Pedro Neto has averaged more dribbles per outing, albeit on a smaller scale, given his injury absence.
He was dubbed a “bargain” by writer Louis Wheeldon late last year, while being lauded as “worth every penny” by journalist Ethan Lamb and it’s clear that he is finally living up to his potential, not allowing the extravagant transfer fee to affect his game.
Lage clearly had a shocker with the Englishman and he could have certainly become an integral member of the squad under Julen Lopetegui that’s for sure.
Wolves’ loss is Forest’s gain and the Old Gold could be paying for Lage’s mistake over the next few years, especially if Gibbs-White continues in his current vein of form.