Nottingham Forest‘s European form of 2024/25 campaign has proven to be a flash in the pan, with last season seeing the Tricky Trees pulled back into a sobering relegation battle.

Oliver Glasner is a natural-born winner. He lifted the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt before lifting Crystal Palace up to their all-time apotheosis, winning the FA Cup and then the Community Shield and then the Conference League.

Titles are in Forest’s blood, but it’s been a long time. It might feel like reaching that level after selling Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for £116m could be somewhat difficult, but with Morgan Gibbs-White still pulling the strings in attack, there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

How Gibbs-White became Nottingham Forest’s main man

Nottingham Forest found form under Vitor Pereira last season, escaping a dreaded relegation dogfight in the Premier League and finishing comparatively comfortably in 16th place, five points above relegated West Ham United.

Instrumental in painting a late-stage purple patch was Gibbs-White, who was hemmed into a more attritional role than previously at the City Ground, though freed himself from the fetters of a turbulent start to the campaign and ended up scoring any number of strikes over the business months of the year.

The 26-year-old was overlooked by Thomas Tuchel ahead of England’s World Cup campaign, but he is the real deal, and will return to Premier League action fresh and with a hunger to prove the Three Lions manager wrong.

Gibbs-White has become “a really positive leader” at Forest, according to pundit Glenn Murray, and he could receive wider recognition over the coming year for Glasner, playing a starring role in a resurgent outfit.

Gibbs-White will likely play an advanced midfield role in Glasner’s expected 3-4-2-1 formational set-up. With Anderson gone, his importance at Forest will only deepen, though Evangelos Marinakis does seem intent on signing an Anderson replacement who could emulate MGW.

Nottingham Forest preparing bid for Premier League midfielder

Forest have lost some of their essence in waving goodbye to Anderson, whose sale always felt set in stone when Manchester’s heavyweights made their vested interests known.

But in Tottenham Hotspur’s Lucas Bergvall, he could be replaced. As per Football Insider, Bergvall is desperate to leave N17 this summer, and Forest are preparing a second offer after seeing a £46m approach knocked back earlier this summer.

Alongside Newcastle United, the Tricky Trees are considered the frontrunners to sign the 20-year-old, but Spurs appear set on demanding £60m for his signature.

This might be a touch steep for an outfit such as Forest, but they have banked a pretty penny indeed, and they showed in the past when signing Gibbs-White from Wolves for £42.5m that they are happy to break the bank for a rising star.

Gibbs-White has developed into a superstar, but it wasn’t always that way. There were question marks over him when first making that journey. But Gibbs-White proved the doubters wrong from the off.

Could Bergvall do the same? For sure, the young playmaker has experience under his belt despite his young age, and his natural progressions, tenacity and willingness to get stuck in and make a tackle suggests he could thrive in Glasner’s Forest system, supporting the likes of Gibbs-White.

Said to “do his best work when he’s almost a free spirit” by journalist Antonio Mango, Bergvall has established himself as a top talent in Tottenham, winning silverware and also playing a prominent role at a young age for a high-profile outfit in disrepair.

Like Gibbs-White, his natural talent has never been questioned, but eyebrows were certainly raised when Forest forked out a pretty penny to bring the former Wolves prospect over to a different neck of the Midlands woods.

He might not achieve Forest greatness from the get-go, but Bergvall could certainly play a part, shifting between roles as a No. 8 and a No. 10 while learning from Gibbs-White.

Bergvall has had a bit of a rough ride over the past few years in north London, but it could be the making of him as he continues to go from strength to strength over the next several years.