Wolves now have 'tinge of regret' over Morgan Gibbs-White sale

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·23 de octubre de 2023

Wolves now have 'tinge of regret' over Morgan Gibbs-White sale

Wolverhampton Wanderers will now 'regret' selling Morgan Gibbs-White last summer, with journalist Neil Moxley suggesting to GIVEMESPORT he's the exact profile of player they're currently missing.

Gibbs-White secured a big-money move to Nottingham Forest during the 2022 summer transfer window and has since impressed playing for the Premier League outfit - much to the frustration of the Wolves faithful.

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Morgan Gibbs-White sale a regret for Wanderers

It looked like being one of the steals of the season. Pocketing £42 million for an England under-21 international, at a time when he'd barely featured for the Wolves senior side, was considered a great piece of business for the Molineux outfit. However, fast forward a year's time and the feeling has shifted quite a bit.

Dropped straight into the Forest starting-11, Gibbs-White shone for the Nottingham-based outfit in his first season at the City Ground, featuring in 37 of their 38 Premier League encounters. Missing just one of the Tricky Trees' league matches all term, the Stafford-born midfielder was integral to Forest staying in the first tier and has since backed his performances from last season up with some strong showings already this time around.

According to the football statistics database WhoScored, Gibbs-White is ranked as the fourth-most important player for Forest after nine games of the campaign, with the dominative midfield maestro having notched up an average rating of 6.99. Having matured into a canny operator, few are now questioning whether Forest overpaid for the 23-year-old last summer.

Instead, it appears the conversation has switched back on to Wolves, who could be beginning to regret sanctioning the sale.

Neil Moxley update - Morgan Gibbs-White

When quizzed by GIVEMESPORT about the decision to sell Gibbs-White to the East Midlands side and if they'd follow suit again, journalist Moxley suggested Wolves would probably have second thoughts. Hinting that the midfielder is exactly what Gary O'Neil's side are in short supply of, the reliable reporter now believes Forest got the better deal when buying Gibbs-White a little over 12 months ago:

“I just wonder whether or not Wolves, who haven't found goals easy to come by in the last few years, particularly since Raul Jimenez suffered that horrific injury, would do the same again. I just get the feeling that they wouldn't and the supporters were certainly sorry to see him go. “I think every time he threads one of those through balls to Taiwo Awoniyi at Nottingham Forest the Wolves fans will be thinking I wish that was us. I think there will be a tinge of regret among the supporters. And yeah, it's not really been adequately explained that one.”

Is Gibbs-White a miss or not for Wolves?

Much like Forest, Wolves also retained their place in the Premier League last season, with the side then managed by Julen Lopetegui finishing the side in 13th. That ended up being three places and three points ahead of Gibbs-White's Forest, who round off their first campaign back in the Premier League with a 16th-place finish.

Similarly, Wolves have begun the current campaign with some solid showings, but more importantly, they also sit ahead of Forest in the table. Granted, the gap is only by one point right now, but Wanderers don't appear to be missing Gibbs-White too much right now.

Of course, this is something which will be judged over time, with Gibbs-White likely to continue his development at Forest, before moving on to join a club challenging for trophies down the line. Yet, should Wolves continue to keep their spot in the first tier, they can still be content with the figure they banked by selling Gibbs-White, even if there may be some regrets about letting a player with his qualities leave.

More big names could leave Molineux soon

The fear for Wolves supporters right now isn't necessarily about missing a player they sold one year ago, it's about whether more big-name stars depart Molineux in the middle of the campaign. That could be the case with electric winger Pedro Neto, who is said to be attracting interest from some of the division's biggest clubs.

According to a report by the Express & Star, Wolves are preparing themselves to fend off interest in the January window, with Neto likely to be subject to bids from their Premier League rivals. Arsenal are named as one of the sides keen to snatch him away from Wolves, even if the Wolverhampton-based outfit will demand a hefty fee.

Neto is contracted until the summer of 2027 and it's unlikely the Wolves hierarchy will sanction a sale, unless Arsenal - or another interested party - put forward a substantial sum of money.