When Wolverhampton Wanderers sold Morgan Gibbs-White during the summer transfer window in 2022 for a fee that could rise to £42.5m to fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest, it looked as though the Old Gold had gotten the better end of the deal.
After 18 months, the Englishman is playing brilliantly for Forest, suggesting that it might have been a major mistake.
Wolves may regret selling Morgan Gibbs-White
Although it seems sense to pay such a high amount for a player who had only made 88 appearances for the team, the 24-year-old has since made an impression at Forest.
Gibbs-White has made 66 appearances, grabbing 12 assists and scoring 8 goals, 16 more goals than he did at Molineux.
The Englishman has been well worth the money, especially considering that Forest may stay in the top division this season. He currently ranks second in the team for shots per game (1.9), second for big chances created (six), and first for key passes per game (1.7) in the Premier League this season.
Do Wolves now have another gifted young player who could make waves in the Premier League after Gibbs-White’s success?
Gary O’Neil may have found Luke Cundle, the former Old Gold starlet’s replacement.
Luke Cundle’s career statistics
The 21-year-old earned his senior debut in the 2019–20 season after playing nearly 100 games for the Molineux club’s U18 and U21 teams, contributing 31 goals.
In his first full season of senior football last year, he secured a loan transfer to Swansea City of the Championship and did fairly well, making 34 appearances across all competitions.
When Cundle scored against Hull City at the beginning of that season, journalist Josh Bunting remarked that he was a player who showed “real promise,” and he has continued to demonstrate it this season.
Cundle was given an opportunity to demonstrate his skills during the first half of the current season with another loan to a lower division team, Plymouth Argyle, and he hasn’t let them down.
Even though he plays in a slightly deeper midfield role than Gibbs-White, he is demonstrating why he could be the next big thing after the latter by recording five goals and six assists in just 27 games across all competitions.
Cundle presently sits in the top 10% for assists (0.25), non-penalty goals (0.18), touches in the opposing penalty area (2.54), and progressive passes received (4.96) per 90, when compared to fellow positional peers in the men’s next 14 competitions during the last 365 days.
These numbers undoubtedly demonstrate the young player’s potential as an effective attacking threat from the centre of the midfield, and the fact that O’Neil has played in an attacking midfield position 40 times in his career may be an added plus.
The midfielder must aim for this if he is to succeed; if he has a strong run at Stoke City between now and May, he may find himself in the squad before the 2024–25 season begins.
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