Morgan Gibbs-White was left out of England's World Cup squad - will his continued good form be impossible for Thomas Tuchel to ignore?

On Saturday Forest host Tottenham, a team Gibbs-White came close to joining last year. The fallout led to Forest threatening to take legal action against Spurs as owner Evangelos Marinakis personally took charge of the situation, meeting Gibbs-White at the club's training camp in Portugal and convincing him to stay - reaching a general agreement over a new contract. He signed a new three-year deal days later and went on to score a career-best 18 goals in all competitions last season.

His goal at Tottenham in March was crucial in Forest's 3-0 win, giving them the platform to survive and keeping Spurs sweating on their top-flight status until the final day. Now, without Anderson following his £116m departure to the Etihad, the spotlight will continue to land on Gibbs-White. Glasner said in August his star was never leaving the club once it was clear Anderson was. The number 10 role is his, with Glasner handing James Mc Atee a deeper role following Anderson's exit - the former Manchester City youngster able to control Forest's tempo, allowing Gibbs-White to roam and threaten further forward.

"There was never a tiny question mark about it. It was complete commitment and alignment that Morgan stays here, also from his side," said the former Crystal Palace head coach. "I have always seen him as a top player, a player who can make the difference, a player who can create chances and score himself. It's something he's showed since day one. He is very professional, very hard-working. He looks like an Adonis - just muscles."

Gibbs-White had enough license to score 10 goals in his final 15 games of last season, although it was not good enough to earn a World Cup call. Glasner, though, has urged the 26-year-old to put his international future to the back of his mind. "At the end it makes no sense thinking about it so much. The better he performs the better he will do in his career, for clubs or for England," he added. "If you perform well and do things right you will be called up." There is no doubt the former Wolves youngster is one of the Premier League's form players this calendar year. Gibbs-White has been directly involved in 20 club goals in 2026 (15 goals, five assists), which is the joint-most of any Premier League player in all competitions - along with Erling Haaland. Yet Gibbs-White has outscored the Manchester City striker, who has 10, with the Forest's star's 13 Premier League goals in 2026 the most of any player.