Wolves started the 2024/25 Premier League campaign slowly, losing two and drawing one of their opening three fixtures. However, the Old Gold had a tough start, facing both Arsenal and Chelsea in their first two games.
Gary O’Neil lost one of his most important players this summer, with Pedro Neto making the move to Chelsea for a fee of around £54m.
​​​​​​Neto made 24 appearances for Wolves last season in all competitions, scoring three goals, providing 11 assists, and totalling 1,729 minutes played.
It may well come to pass that they end up missing the electric winger. Do they miss Morgan Gibbs-White, though? He’s certainly gone to a new level after leaving Molineux behind.
Morgan Gibbs-White at Wolves
Morgan Gibbs-White came through the Wolves academy, joining the club at eight years old. He played 17 games for the U21 side, scoring two goals and providing five assists, but it didn’t take long for the English midfielder to break into senior football.
Making his first-team debut in 2017, Gibbs-White went on to make 88 appearances for Wolves, scoring three goals and providing one assist, but many of these minutes were from the bench, totalling 3,053 minutes.
Gibbs-White spent two spells out on loan, his first being with Swansea in 2020/21, but his most successful time came at Sheffield United in 2021/22, where he made 38 appearances for the Blades in all competitions, scoring 13 goals, and providing ten assists.
This successful stint for Sheffield United caused Nottingham Forest to make a move for the English midfielder, paying a £25m initial fee, with add-ons that take the deal to a total of £42.5m.
How Gibbs-White is playing at Forest
Since being sold by Bruno Lage to Forest, Gibbs-White has been a key man, making 83 appearances for the club, scoring 12 goals and providing 18 assists, totalling 6,949 minutes played. He has already doubled his minutes played in fewer appearances for Forest than in his time at Wolves.
Labelled an “underrated playmaker” by Statman Dave, the 24-year-old has made an immense impact so far this season. Indeed, the English midfielder has created the most chances from open play in the Premier League (9), joint with Chelsea sensation Cole Palmer.
Gibbs-White vs Palmer comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats (per 90 mins) | Gibbs-White | Palmer |
Goals | 0.31 | 0.34 |
Assists | 0.00 | 1.38 |
Progressive Carries | 2.33 | 3.45 |
Progressive Passes | 7.00 | 6.90 |
Goals/Shot | 0.11 | 0.11 |
Key Passes | 3.00 | 3.79 |
Passes into Final Third | 6.67 | 4.83 |
Shot-Creating Actions | 5.33 | 7.24 |
Successful Take-Ons | 2.00 | 1.03 |
Stats taken from FBref | ||
As you can see from the metrics so far this campaign, Gibbs-White is performing extremely close to Palmer’s level, even bettering him in some metrics. The 24-year-old is averaging seven progressive passes per 90, more than Palmer’s 6.90.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
He is also averaging nearly double the successful take-ons of Palmer, with two per 90 minutes, compared to Palmer’s 1.03. Gibbs-White has a more compact and durable body composition, where his ability to carry the ball with power and a long stride helps him to get away from his marker/defender. It’s perhaps not a surprise, therefore, to see that the two are now teammates at international level.
Contrastingly, Palmer is more controlled with his movements, using body feints and agility to get away from his man and create separation, and he does this effectively, averaging more progressive carries than the former Wolves man despite their different carrying styles.
Wolves could have done with the creation of Gibbs-White this season, especially after losing Neto this summer, and it seems clear that selling him may well have been a mistake as he looks on track for his best season yet.
