There was a lovely moment after the final whistle as Nuno Espirito Santo danced towards Morgan Gibbs-White before embracing his match-winner with a bear hug.
For all the reasons surrounding the £42.5M transfer of Gibbs-White from Wolves to Nottingham Forest in August 2022, it is worth remembering that it was Nuno who gave the 23-year-old his Premier League debut in 2018.
Gibbs-White was 18 then and provided an assist for Raul Jimenez as Wolves beat Chelsea.
‘I probably had my best times when I was a kid growing up under him (Nuno). I learned so much,’ said Gibbs-White, who capped off a man-of-the-match display on Saturday with an ice-cool finish to give Forest their first home win since November 5.
There was a lovely moment as Nuno Espirito Santo danced towards Morgan Gibbs-White after Nottingham Forest beat Man United
The pair hold a strong relationship despite it being former boss Steve Cooper who brought Gibbs-White to Forest
Espirito Santo handed Gibbs-White his professional debut when the pair were together at Wolves
In the space of eleven days since taking over, Nuno has won two of his three games in charge, beating Newcastle and now Manchester United.
Post-match, he admitted how hard the challenge has been to take over a team in December with minimal time to prepare in between games, but that his main focus has been to restore the players belief. Belief that they are good enough to play and compete in the top-flight.
Under Cooper, that belief had somewhat eroded in the early stages of this season with just 14 points from 17 games.
Maybe that had an impact on Gibbs-White too, who managed to make goal contributions in just two of those games under Cooper this season.
Already under Nuno, he has matched that tally in three games, including an all-action display with the captain’s armband at St James’ Park.
And in terms of goalscoring chances created this season (35), only Phil Foden and James Ward-Prowse have created more among all English midfielders this season.
‘We had a great relationship at Wolves. I was young and quite immature then and I needed time to develop,’ said Gibbs-White. ‘Now I’ve got that experience and matured as a man, I feel like now we have an incredible relationship and I feel like it’s starting to show on the pitch,’ he added.
‘Morgan is a father now, he is a man. We had him when he was 16 and we grew together. It is great to have him back. I think he is better now,’ admitted Nuno.
Perhaps it is time for the man to now reach the next level. For Gibbs-White, who won the U17 World Cup in 2017 and the U21 European Championships in the summer with England, maybe under Nuno in 2024, that senior call up for the national team can’t be too far off.
