Morgan Gibbs-White has been on fire in 2026, and his stunning resurgence with Nottingham Forest is making a serious case for him to wear England's number 10 shirt at the World Cup this summer.
The 26-year-old midfielder has been instrumental in steering Forest toward Premier League safety, netting 13 goals in 35 league appearances this season. What's truly eye-catching is his explosive form since March, with seven of those strikes coming in just the last few months. That kind of momentum is hard to ignore, especially for England manager Thomas Tuchel, who left Gibbs-White out of his 35-man squad for May's friendlies against Japan and Uruguay.
Fast forward to now, and the conversation has shifted dramatically. Gibbs-White's recent performances have thrust him into the spotlight as a leading contender for the creative number 10 role, a position packed with elite talent. Take Monday's match at Stamford Bridge, for example. In Nottingham Forest's 3-1 win over Chelsea, Gibbs-White came off the bench at halftime and within six minutes delivered an assist. Meanwhile, Chelsea's Cole Palmer—another hopeful for that England spot—struggled through a full 90 minutes, missing a penalty and failing to create meaningful chances.
Palmer's season has been disrupted by injuries, limiting him to just five goal contributions. Gibbs-White, by contrast, is in red-hot form, but he knows the competition is fierce. The number 10 role is a crowded battlefield, with Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), and Phil Foden (Manchester City) all in the mix. Among them, Rogers and Gibbs-White have logged the most minutes for their clubs this season—over 1,000 more than the others—showing their durability and consistency.
When it comes to goal contributions from open play, Gibbs-White leads the pack with 16 (12 goals, four assists), with Rogers trailing at 14. But it's his form since January that truly sets him apart: 12 of those 16 contributions have come in 2026 alone, a blistering pace that no other contender can match. For a player who was on the outside looking in just months ago, Gibbs-White is now making a compelling argument that he deserves to be England's main man in the middle this summer.