Is Gibbs-White favourite to start as England's number 10 at World Cup?

ByGary Rose

BBC Sport journalist

Not only has Morgan Gibbs-White played a crucial role in helping Nottingham Forest reach the verge of Premier League safety, but his resurgence in the second half of the season must have made England manager Thomas Tuchel take notice.

The midfielder has scored 13 goals in 35 Premier League games this term, with seven of those strikes coming since the start of March.

In May, Gibbs-White was left out of Tuchel's 35-man England squad for the friendlies against Japan and Uruguay.

However, his recent form has arguably sent him to the forefront of the conversation when it comes to who should be England's number 10 at this summer's World Cup.

For 20 minutes during Nottingham Forest's 3-1 win at Chelsea on Monday, Cole Palmer and Gibbs-White were on the pitch together.

Both players are aiming to convince Tuchel that they deserve their place in the England squad and, in particular, as the first choice in the number 10 role.

Palmer started the match for the Blues, while Gibbs-White came on for the second half. Within six minutes the latter had provided an assist, while Palmer had a match to forget across his 90 minutes on the pitch, seeing a penalty saved and struggling to create opportunities.

Palmer has been hampered by injuries this season and that will no doubt have impacted his campaign, during which he has managed just five goal contributions.

Gibbs-White is in much better form than Palmer, but his problem remains that the number 10 is a crowded position.

Also vying for that role is Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham, Arsenal's Eberechi Eze, Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers and Manchester City's Phil Foden.

Of those players, Rogers and Gibbs-White have clocked the most minutes for their clubs this season - at least 1,000 more than the others have managed.

Gibbs-White has the most goal contributions from open play with 16 - 12 goals and four assists, with Rogers two behind on 14.

However, no-one is even close to Gibbs-White for form since the turn of the year with 12 of his 16 goal contributions having come since the start of January.

In comparison, Rogers has the second most from the other contenders in that time with four.

"It does put him in the conversation regarding the England squad," said former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy on Match of the Day last month of Gibbs-White's form in 2026.

"When you're looking as a manager for creative players on who is in form, who is scoring goals and impacting games, some of the other players on the list are not playing as well as him."

An issue for Gibbs-White in previous seasons was his lack of goals, but they have been flowing with this the first time he has hit double figures in a campaign.

His 13 Premier League goals is more than he managed in the past two seasons combined, and former Nottingham Forest defender James Perch said on BBC Radio Nottingham: "You can't argue with his numbers this season as 15 goals [in all competitions] is brilliant.

"He also gets back and helps defensively so I can't heap enough praise on him. He has been unbelievable.

"He turns up in the big games and he can win games on his own. I don't know why he's not getting a call-up because he can't be doing any more than what he is doing."

England's final World Cup squad must be submitted by Saturday, 30 May.

However, the Three Lions have no friendlies lined up before then, so Gibbs-White has the remainder of the season at club level to prove his worth to Tuchel.

Forest have Premier League games against Newcastle, Manchester United and Bournemouth remaining, and at least one more fixture in the Europa League as they take on Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the Europa League on Thursday.

If Gibbs-White can play a key role in Forest winning a European trophy, then that will surely boost his international hopes.

However, he was taken off 20 minutes after coming on against Chelsea following a clash of heads with Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez that left him with a nasty wound which required stitches.

He now faces a race against time to be fit for the semi-final second leg against Villa - with Forest leading 1-0 on aggregate.

"I don't know if it is a bit late for him to get a call-up now but in my eyes he deserves it," Perch added.

"All he can do is perform for his club - and that is what he is doing - and Tuchel can't ignore him for too much longer."