Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has issued a devastating update on the fitness of Morgan Gibbs-White. The striker hobbled out of last week’s Carabao Cup game against Manchester United with an ankle problem.
Gibbs-White signed for Forest from Wolves in the summer. The club paid an initial fee of £25 million but the deal could rise to over £40 million based on a number of successes being reached.
The 23-year-old has been a fantastic addition to the Forest ranks during 2022/23. He took some time to get going at the City Ground but now has six assists to his name in all competitions.
Now, Cooper has missed a really frustrating update on the forward. Ahead of Wednesday’s second leg of the Carabao Cup against Manchester United, he’s been assessing the player’s injury.
He told BBC Radio Nottingham: “It’ll be a blow for a little while.”
Gibbs-White will be sorely missed in his absence. The Reds have rarely played well when the youngster hasn’t been on the pitch and Cooper will hope that this doesn’t become something more sinister.
Forest might view Wednesday’s game as a chance to rest a few players. Trailing 3-0 from the first leg it does seem unlikely that the Reds will be progressing through to the final.
Cooper has issued a devastating blow on Gibbs-White
This is awful news regarding probably Forest’s best player. With huge games coming up in the Premier League, the Reds can ill-afford to have Gibbs-White out of action for too long.
The 23-year-old is vitally important and he was Cooper’s top target during the summer. Evangelos Marinakis stepped in and signed Gibbs-White at a time when Wolves were starting to play hardball.
One reason to be cheerful over this could be Cooper’s past claims about injured players. So often in the past, he’s bemoaned an injury problem and then proceeded to pick them in a matter of weeks.
Gibbs-White is likely to prove integral in Forest’s quest to stay in the Premier League this season. As a result, the club’s supporters will have everything crossed that this injury doesn’t prove to be too serious.