Morgan Gibbs-White earned his first England cap in September after excellent performances for Nottingham Forest.
Marlon Harewood believes that transfer speculation around ‘top-class’ Morgan Gibbs-White is not always a bad thing for Nottingham Forest.
Gibbs-White, who was suspended for Monday’s game against Crystal Palace, has established himself as one of the Premier League’s top midfielders, earning his first England cap in September.
The 24-year-old has been linked with moves to Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur in the last year, but former Forest fan favourite Harewood hopes he will stay with the club and become a legend.
“The last couple of years he’s played really well and he is a top class player,” Harewood said during the Copa del Cure Leukemia event at St George’s Park.
“It’s good for Forest that the players they’ve bought in have done so well and are wanted by other clubs because that means they are doing well.
“I hope he can continue at Forest because it’s a club near to my heart, and I don’t want him to leave. If he wants to change, that is his choice.
“I hope he stays for as long as he can and continues to do well for the club.”
Gibbs-White has forged an ideal relationship with striker Chris Wood, accounting for around a quarter of the New Zealander’s goals in the 2023/24 season.
Former Forest fan favourite Harewood, like Wood, has hopped around clubs during his career, but he knows that this match is ideal for both team and player.
“A player like Chris has loved scoring goals throughout his career,” says Harewood.
“I had no doubt he’d do it. He’s done fantastically well, and I’m overjoyed for him. He appears to be enjoying his football.
“Players go around to other clubs, and he obviously moved to Forest, which has worked out well for him. He enjoys his football, which has turned into goals. Chris has demonstrated his worth, and the recruitment has been excellent.”
Some predicted Forest’s relegation at the start of the season, but they have proven their worth in key games, winning away at Liverpool and drawing at Chelsea.
Harewood, who is an ambassador for both Forest and West Ham, believes the club has found its footing in the Premier League and believes they should be looking up rather than down.
“I’m not surprised by how well they’ve started,” Harewood explained. “This is their third season in the Premier League, and they’ve performed well. The coach (Nuno Espirito Santo) has discovered a good formula for how they want to play and how they want to execute it, and it’s evident.
“The City Ground is an absolute fortress when everyone is on key, the fans love it with sellout crowds week in week out.”
“They’ve settled the ship in terms of being in the top-flight and now they want to kick on.”
Cure leukemia is a UK-based blood cancer charity created in 2003 that works to hasten the process of providing life-saving medications to leukemia patients by sponsoring professional research nurses across the country.
