Premier League 2019-20: 5 young stars who could benefit from a January loan move

#5 Morgan Gibbs-White

Morgan Gibbs-White has seen his development slow down at Wolves

2019-20 has been a frustrating season for Wolves youngster Morgan Gibbs-White up to this point. The attacker, who won the U-17 World Cup with England in 2017, broke through into the first team at Molineux last season and famously starred in Wolves’ 2-1 win over Chelsea in December, setting up the opening goal of that game for Raul Jimenez.

Gibbs-White went on to make 31 appearances in total in 2018/19, and while the majority of them came from the substitute’s bench, he also made a handful of starts and it was clear that boss Nuno Espirito Santo appeared to rate him highly. This season, however, Gibbs-White appears to have taken somewhat of a step backwards.

Despite Wolves having a more packed fixture list thanks to their UEFA Europa League exploits, Gibbs-White has played just 120 minutes in the Premier League thus far. In comparison, fellow youngster Mason Mount has racked up 1041 minutes for Chelsea, while Bukayo Saka has completed 345 minutes for Arsenal.

It doesn’t seem right at all, especially when you consider that Wolves have one of the smaller squads in the Premier League. But then their forward line of Jimenez, Diogo Jota and Adama Traore is a strong one, and Joao Moutinho seems to have the playmaker spot sewn up – meaning Gibbs-White is usually considered the odd man out.

At 19 he has plenty of time on his side, but if Wolves aren’t going to use him regularly then perhaps a January loan to a side who would consider him a regular starter would work well. Given that he’s already demonstrated his talents at the Premier League level, a move to a lower side in the league could work – but Wolves may not wish to strengthen a rival, so perhaps a move abroad could be better for the England youngster.