Morgan Gibbs-White

[Tojo the grass]

Ah well , good luck to him as long as they finish below us

 

[Axle]

For the fee involved, it's an absolute no-brainer to sell, especially with his reluctance to sign a new deal. For me, he was never anything better than "ok" in a Wolves shirt, but too concerned with flicks and tricks than playing the pass at the right pace and at the right time. Maybe Nuno and Lage have been using him in the wrong positions, and Cooper will find the right solution, but he always seemed to struggle to find the right pockets of space.

I do wonder what exactly the big pull for him with Forest is though. You would think for a local lad who's been at the club since 8 to be able to play for that team in the Premier League would be the ultimate fantasy, but he seemed somewhat non-plussed about making it here in the end. Firstly, preferring to stay at the Blades last season when apparently he could have returned in January and now being content to go to a newly-promoted team that hasn't played top flight football in 23 years.

This isn't comparable to Traore wanting to get a move to one of the biggest clubs in world football and to return to his homeland.

In any case, it was probably inevitable that we would have to manage to make one big sale in light of Guedes and Nunes (and another) coming in. As we aren't Aston Villa, FFP will apply to us. Far better that we keep proven PL quality like Neves and Neto at the club than MGW.

Cooper coached him at U-17 I think, so probably knows the best way to get the best out of him and where to play him.

I would have thought that as their record signing, he would be guaranteed playing time as well.

However, as we know with Fabio, fees have a nasty habit of becoming problematic, so it may well be the case that MGW starts that way and if it doesn't work out, then he sees more of the bench.

Good luck to him and well done Wolves for negotiating a good fee.

 

[Northampton_wolf]

“After his successes last season, it was no secret that Morgan declined to sign a new contract at Wolves, but despite that he has always acted with the utmost professionalism and gave everything for the team.

 

[Bognor_Wolf]

Now confirmed by Wolves on official site:

Gibbs-White makes Molineux departure

Morgan Gibbs-White has completed a permanent move to Nottingham Forest, bringing to an end a 14-year association with Wolves.

www.wolves.co.uk

Interesting that there's no comment from Sellars again, especially as he'll have overseen a lot of MGW's development...

Just said this on another thread something I've noticed lately haven't seen or heard from him for a bit now..

 

[wolfgar]

I like MGW and I was quite excited by his potential, but if he wouldn't sign a contract the club would have been crazy to turn the money down. In reality there is a fair chance that this is the highest fee he will ever go for. Selling an academy player also gives considerable FFP headroom doesn't it? It really could go either way with him, he could be come a superstar or he could struggle to ever live up to the hype?. Sign another decent attacking option and I'm ok

 

[Irish_Wolf]

You know he will score agin us, right?

 

[modenawolf]

Sorry to see him leave as a local lad, and I do think he'd have contributed this season. On the other hand, his apparent reluctance to sign a new contract combined with the fee on offer made this too good to refuse for Wolves.

Of all of our first-team squad, he's probably the one I'm the least bothered about leaving to be fair.

 

[Cuban Wolf]

Does this mean that we can now close this thread?

 

[Cousins78]

Percy saying everton matched the offer but he chose forest, interesting they play each other the weekend

 

[Wolves Heathen]

Jeff saying he declined to sign a new contract, which means selling him for a premium was the right thing to do.

 

[modenawolf]

Just said this on another thread something I've noticed lately haven't seen or heard from him for a bit now..

I'm not one of the 'Sellars-bashers', nor am I a conspiracy theorist (I actually think a lot of the good Sellars does / has done gets over-looked) but it does seem strange that we've not heard from him for Guedes, Nunes and now MGW. Could just be that Jeff wants to be the lead voice on these more high-profile deals.

 

[dewolfman]

I could see potential but I could also see him just not good enough, I hope the latter prevails, too much of a show pony for wolves fans I feel anyway.

 

[92WWFC]

Does this mean that we can now close this thread?

Nah it will stay open so if he does anything worth noting this season it will be something to beat the club with aka Jota.

 

[Mugwump]

Jeff saying he declined to sign a new contract, which means selling him for a premium was the right thing to do.

From what i heard from my nephew who knows him i suspected that was going to happen. He was happy to stay, but he wasnt signing that contract yet. Fosun rightly have protected the club from seeing his value declining. Despite him being happy to stay, at the same time he was clearly open to moving as well. This deal works for everyone imo.

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

That’s just a bit stupid and deliberately negative tbh.

We’ve sold him - he’s not chosen to leave, he was under contract and we’ve decided £45m is too good to turn down. And realistically, it didn’t matter which club he moved to, any club offering crazy money like that would have been accepted.

You just like slagging the club and it’s players at every opportunity.

What a pathetic last sentence.

I spent all last season, check the posts, singing MGWs praises. I think he’s excellent.

I am praising the club here for selling him. So you couldn’t be more wrong in this instance.

I’m merely stating someone who refused to sign a contract effectively pushed through a move. It’s pretty obvious to be honest and how some can’t see it I don’t know.

We wanted to keep him, he didn’t want to stay.

Anyway, he’s gone, and I hope MGW and Forest go down this season

 

[sillytuna]

There's some real butthurt and made up nonsense on here.

He did not engineer the move.

He did not demand to play.

Any people who claim to be close to the family or have heard have said he wanted to see if he was playing before agreeing a deal. And it's wolves who accepted the offer (for understandable reasons). Forest would not have kept trying without an understanding there - which has also been public via those closer to the club and why his agent will have understood high level terms.

He may well have an ego and he did mess up during lockdown. That's beside the point. Others have said he'd matured a lot last year. He certainly worked hard preseason and in our first two games.

From a contract pov he did exactly the right thing for his career. Some folks really can't put their fandom aside and see this from a career pov. Not signing a contract does not mean pushing for a move. This is really basic agent management - and my agents would all have done the same in my business even with my preferred partners (as do friends' agents who work in media and sports).

If he does well at forest under a manager he trusts then he'll get a move even if forest go down. If he does badly, well he gets paid more and he'd probably have done badly at wolves too - under a manager who doesn't play to his strengths.

Ironic that some of those same people who had a go at anyone dissing wolves after promotion do exactly the same to forest. You are no better than man utd fans looking 'down' on wolves.

Shame but the right thing for both parties. I think he could be better than podence, down the middle at least, but he's moved on now so on we go.

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

What a sale that is. Mad price. Good luck to him and forest. Imagine we win if they stay up.

 

[wolfslair]

You know he will score agin us, right?

He couldn’t score infront of an open goal last week and was harder to miss than score……

how he got the ball so high over the bar being that close is an achievement…..

He ain’t scoring against us, he is a crap finisher at prem level

 

[dizzydonut]

We don’t know that Forest are a worse club than us yet; they are probably ahead of us in where we were when we got promoted, have good local support and some good players and coach. We can only make that judgement at the end of the season.
I wanted MGW to stay, and I am convinced that he would have remained a key player for us, but I wish him well, we have got good money for him and I hope Forest stay up. Indeed I hope that all midlands clubs do well (as long as they are behind us, obviously) because I want the midlands to be a football powerhouse again, and not the NW or London.

No way ahead of us. They came up through the playoffs and need / needed an entire team rebuild (20+ new players! I believe)

 

[North West Wanderer]

Yes, perhaps.

I had a few doubts about his story to be honest. For instance, if he found out the day before Liverpool which he claimed, did he not find it odd he was playing against Norwich the week before? To me, and I presume most, that was him having a send-off otherwise why had we dropped our POTY for a game that ultimately cost us £5-6m in prize money?

Probably for another thread.

Either way, I certainly appreciate what Ruddy and obviously more so Coady did for the club but they didn't leave in great ways IMO.

MGW is far, far worse for me. He has engineered this and got his wish.

I think Coady was more than a simple one game decision like you said. I admire him for wanting to play.

 

[Ginger Chimp]

I feel it’s a good deal for everyone.
Let's face it he has never looked like he fits in with the Wolves. Apart from that 2nd half against Chelsea a few years ago, we don't seem to get the best out of him (even though we don't know what his best is, if that makes sense).
Well done Wolves with the negotiations it would have been so easy to have cashed out a few weeks ago, my only slight worry is in the future we look back like we do with Jota and think we have maybe come out of this 2nd best.

That last bit is false I think. If he stayed with us he’d become what he becomes. You can’t compare that with what he becomes elsewhere because he’ll be influenced differently, coached differently, given different opportunities and experiences. You can only judge a sale (or a purchase) with what you see at the time.

Silva, @ £35m, was too expensive. If he stayed in Portugal he wouldn’t be the same player he’ll become in England. We risked paying over the odds for him, confident that we could develop him to become the player we want and a player that will increase in value.

If MGW does that away from Wolves then there’s absolutely no guarantee that he’d have done it at Wolves.

Taking that amount of money, in this situation, looks like the right decision … and there should be no regrets on our side - ever.

 

[Surrey Wolf]

good move for all parties

 

[sillytuna]

good move for all parties

After the traore mess, I agree. Sad though I am to see him go.

Also, now I want forest to stay up and him get regular game time and 1 england cap!

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Good luck to him. I would have preferred him to stay, but given the money the club have received for him, it was probably better for all concerned.

 

[Derbywolf85]

Good move for everyone - Nice that his Girlfriend finally got what she always wanted as well in all of this.

 

[Jonzy54]

Whether I agree with it or not I have a feeling he will get booed down here on the 15th October

 

[Mugwump]

Thing is, stuff like saying MGW engineered the move works both ways. As somebody else said earlier, we could have turned down the offer, we could have waited and see if he signed the contract in January ( which is when i was led to believe he would look at things again ). As a club, we didnt have the patience to risk losing a good transfer deal, and as a player, MGW wanted to see where he stood in the pecking order before committing to a contract. Nothing wrong with what he did, nothing wrong with what Wolves did. Dont really know why its being made a big deal of really, its nonsense. Both parties have protected their own interests. Thats whats blindly obvious.

 

[Golden_Wolf]

Now confirmed by Wolves on official site:

Gibbs-White makes Molineux departure

Morgan Gibbs-White has completed a permanent move to Nottingham Forest, bringing to an end a 14-year association with Wolves.

www.wolves.co.uk

Interesting that there's no comment from Sellars again, especially as he'll have overseen a lot of MGW's development...

Noticed this as well.

Anyone else finding this a bit odd?

 

[jonesy]

I know he’s a local boy and had a great season last year but he does not have it to be a premier league footballer. I wish him well and great business again by the club to get that fee

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

The fee isn’t that good at all when you break it down. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but £25m is the going rate for top Championship players from Championship clubs.

Selling as a Premier League club we should’ve been looking at £30m minimum. So getting £25m rising to £35m realistically is decent but it’s not amazing.

The initial £44.5m headlines misled a few I think.

 

[Wednesbury Wolf]

Everton last night matched the Forest bid but MGW would rather play for Forest.

 

[Scallywolf]

Sad to see him go as he is one of our own. Bit of a saga but now over,

Amazing fee received and good for all parties.

Got me thinking of the last home grown player who we received any money. Mark Davies comes to mind. He was well looked after by the club throughout all his injury problems. We got him fit and he signed for Bolton bloody Wanderers!

MGW leaves with my best wishes. Unlike Mark Davies!

 

[bigwolf]

The fee isn’t that good at all when you break it down. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but £25m is the going rate for top Championship players from Championship clubs.

Selling as a Premier League club we should’ve been looking at £30m minimum. So getting £25m rising to £35m realistically is decent but it’s not amazing.

The initial £44.5m headlines misled a few I think.

£35m is about spot on.

One decent season in the championship plus the English player premium and not wanting to sign a contract equals £35m.

I can't see how anyone would not see the fee as a good deal for wolves.

Good luck to him. He only lives round the corner from me and as a local lad I hope he realizes his potential.

 

[Jefe]

From a contract pov he did exactly the right thing for his career. Some folks really can't put their fandom aside and see this from a career pov. Not signing a contract does not mean pushing for a move. This is really basic agent management - and my agents would all have done the same in my business even with my preferred partners (as do friends' agents who work in media and sports).

To me, it seems that MGW played a game of chicken with Jeff Shi, and lost. Having "no intention" of signing the deal on the table was tantamount to saying, "Give me more money, or sell me". Now, he has lost regular football with Wolves (who will likely be in the hunt for 7th), for regular football at Forest (who would probably take 17th).

 

[Scallywolf]

The fee isn’t that good at all when you break it down. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad, but £25m is the going rate for top Championship players from Championship clubs.

Selling as a Premier League club we should’ve been looking at £30m minimum. So getting £25m rising to £35m realistically is decent but it’s not amazing.

The initial £44.5m headlines misled a few I think.

Off the top of my head I can’t remember any Championship players who have been sold for £25 million or any who are currently worth that much.

Might be wrong and no doubt you or someone else will mention some names.

Its a great fee for an attacking midfield player who has scored one goal and created one goal in 66 appearances.

 

[sillytuna]

To me, it seems that MGW played a game of chicken with Jeff, and lost. Having "no intention" of signing the contract on the table was tantamount to giving Jeff only two choices: Give me more money, or sell me. Now, he has lost regular football with Wolves (who will likely be in the hunt for 7th), for regular football at Forest (who would probably accept 17th).

That's one reading of it but certainly not how I'd see it. Firstly you said no intention and nothing out there says that. But even if true, it's being done knowing the options. Nothing anywhere claims he'd desperate to stay, he just wants to play.

At wolves he'd have been 3rd choice out wide. He needs to be playing, even if it ends up lower down the table for the next season

 

[sillytuna]

Good move for everyone - Nice that his Girlfriend finally got what she always wanted as well in all of this.

A move to nottingham!!!

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

I put him in my team for Spurs but I forgot we had Neto

Get Bueno, Cundle & Campbell out on loan today!

 

[Derbywolf85]

A move to nottingham!!!

Nottingham is too specific - she just wanted him out of Wolves. Said so on one of her Instagram posts and then changed the text on it.

 

[Cousins78]

A move to nottingham!!!

A new handbag