Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White fulfilled his lifelong dream of winning the England title after coming off the bench against Ireland on Saturday.
Gibbs-White waited a long time for the call. He wasn’t so lucky under Gareth Southgate, but interim boss Lee Carsley was keen to bring him on.
The 24-year-old has made a quality start to the 2024/25 campaign. He scored the winning goal for Forest against Southampton in August and will be looking to add more goals to his game as the season progresses.
Gibbs-White is now hoping to get a starting place against the Finns at Wembley on Tuesday night. He played 18 minutes off the bench on his debut against Ireland and will push for a start.
Gabriel Agbonlahor pays tribute to Morgan Gibbs-White
From a Forest fan’s point of view, there really aren’t enough superlatives to describe Gibbs-White. His efforts for Forest have brought him to this point and it is scary that there is more to come.
Agbonlahor is a big fan of Gibbs-White and heaped praise on him ahead of his England debut.
He told TalkSPORT: “I’ve always been a fan of his. What I like about him is also his ability to score goals, he runs with the ball but he’s got that cheeky side where you’d have a bit of beef with a player on the pitch, he’s got something about him, which I really like.
“When you’ve done so well for under-21s, then you get the job, you’ve got to think straight away I’ve got a chance. Go out there and prove Lee Carsley right when he brings you into the team.”
Where does Gibbs-White need to improve to secure a regular England place
At 24, there is plenty of time on Gibbs-White’s side and any weaknesses can be ironed out. One of these is certainly the number of goals he scores and as he himself admits, it is something he will work on.
Gibbs-White will have plenty of time to reach the goal-scoring standard required and Nuno Espirito Santo is a big fan of him.
An England call-up can only be a good thing for Gibbs-White. He has the world at his feet at the moment and Forest could do well to add another £10m to his value after his spell in England ends.