Gibbs-White's partner hits back at Tuchel after Forest star's second England snub

Morgan Gibbs-White has been omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures, prompting a pointed response from the Nottingham Forest midfielder’s partner, Britney De Villiers.

De Villiers took to Instagram to share a graphic underlining that Gibbs-White is the only player in the Premier League this season to have created five or more chances in every match he has played — an implicit challenge to Tuchel’s selection logic.

Tuchel addressed the omission directly, explaining his reasoning around the number of attacking midfielders at his disposal. “It makes no sense to nominate three, four, five number 10s. It just does not help anyone,” the England head coach said. “We can see the form that Morgan is in. It’s one thing to be nominated, but it’s another thing to perform.”

The decision marks the second time Gibbs-White has been passed over by Tuchel in a matter of months. The 24-year-old was controversially left out of England’s 27-man squad for the summer World Cup, despite strong form for Forest in the closing stages of last season. He was understood to have featured on Tuchel’s long list before missing the final cut.

Speaking to talkSPORT in May after receiving the call from Tuchel, Gibbs-White described the conversation as honest and respectful. “He just said, ‘I’ve got people ahead of you right now. It’s nothing to do with you, you’ve done everything that you could possibly do,’” the midfielder recalled.

Gibbs-White added that he appreciated Tuchel taking the time to call personally, and expressed confidence in his own ability to respond. “I’ve been on a lot of people’s wrong opinions in my career so far, and I’ve always got over those hurdles and bounced back from them. So this is just another hurdle, another thing to bounce back from.”

Phil Foden, Adam Wharton and fellow Premier League performers were also absent from Tuchel’s latest selection, while Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney and Noni Madueke — all named in the World Cup squad — were dropped.