One sign that Nottingham Forest underachieved amid a chaotic campaign is that there were at least three contenders for player of the season.Neco Williams has been the most consistent under four different head coaches and there were no arguments when he collected the official club player of the year trophy.You suspect Elliot Anderson will be a key figure for England at the World Cup, just as he has been throughout the season for Forest, and he could also have won it.Anderson will be badly missed if, as expected, he departs this summer, with Manchester City leading the way, amid a clutch of clubs — including Manchester United — for his signature. He is one of the most talented players to pull on the Garibaldi red in the modern era.But while it was surprising that Thomas Tuchel did not include Morgan Gibbs-White alongside Anderson in his England squad, the talents of Gibbs-White have never been overlooked on Trentside.The value of Gibbs-White to Forest has only been further underlined in recent weeks, when he was missing with a facial injury. He has been the creative heartbeat of this Forest squad. Anderson will be a very difficult man to replace, but replacing Gibbs-White would be no easier.Forest have no intention of selling Gibbs-White or Williams this summer. Beyond the potential sale of Anderson, they want to retain the core of the side.You sense Evangelos Marinakis, the Forest owner, was as aware of Gibbs-White’s importance as anyone when he flew out to the Forest training camp in Portugal last July, to persuade the former Wolves man that he should sign a new contract. Managing to fend off interest from Tottenham — who believed they had activated a £60million release clause in Gibbs-White’s previous deal — felt as significant as any of the 13 signings made last summer.It perhaps did not feel that way when, in the early stage of the campaign, Gibbs-White did not perform to his usual standards. But it came after a period when he and his family had been dealing with the personal challenges surrounding the difficult birth of his second child — as well as seeing his professional future up in the air.He gradually found his feet once more and, in the second half of the campaign in particular, there has been no more influential player in the Forest ranks. Without him, they may well have succumbed to relegation.He has scored 18 goals in all competitions. The 15 Premier League goals were the second-most from an Englishman in the top flight, with only Ollie Watkins (16) getting more. Which makes his England absence even harder to understand. Before the final two fixtures, Gibbs-White made nine goal contributions — seven goals and two assists — in eight games to help Forest over the line.In the first half against Burnley last month, Forest had been poor. Vitor Pereira shuffled things around, moved Gibbs-White into a wider role on the left of the three, behind striker Chris Wood — and he scored a second-half hat-trick.“He has a lot of talent in the pockets, a lot of spirit and he leads the team,” Pereira said after that game. “He is a fantastic player for us. And not only speaking about technically and tactically, but also about character.“He deserves it (to play for England) because he has the quality and he has the qualities of a leader. When things are not happening in the way we want, when the team is struggling in the game, a lot of players in this moment prefer to hide. This is not Morgan; he wants the ball and he wants the responsibility. He wants to score goals and assist.”Gibbs-White followed up with another goal in the remarkable 5-0 win at Sunderland and contributed an assist at Chelsea, before the horrific clash of heads that has subsequently left him needing a mask to protect a nasty facial injury. That did not stop him from scoring a breathtaking goal at Old Trafford, when he guided home an audacious finish with what was more of a pass than a shot, from just inside the penalty area.Gibbs-White in the protective mask required after a clash of heads left a scar (Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)When Forest made Gibbs-White their then-record signing following promotion from the Championship in 2022, it was in the belief that he could evolve into a match-winner; a transformative figure in the side. A difference-maker.He has been that for a long time, but never more so than this season, as he followed up on a summer of uncertainty, by helping to deliver some much-needed stability and security, in the form of Premier League safety.With the benefit of hindsight, Gibbs-White himself will surely be happy with the way things turned out, with Tottenham having suffered struggles of their own. The 26-year-old is not a loud character; he is not a screamer or a shouter. But he knows how to lead by example. He inspires those around him and, individually, he is a match winner in his own right.During the fight against relegation, Gibbs-White spoke about how Nottingham is a city that fights for everything — and how that inspired the players to adopt the same attitude.Forest fans will be happy that, as Pereira looks to ensure that next season is about more than just survival, Gibbs-White is still likely to be fighting for them.May 29, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. 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