I can fully understand why all the big boys will look at Morgan Gibbs-White this summer. He is a player I like.
He seemed a long time before this season in Nottingham Forest and has already proven that he is a top player from the Premier League.
He could have a stinker in Wembley against Manchester City on Sunday, but it will not change anyone's opinion about him. I met him last summer in Portugal where we talked and he seems to be so enthusiastic about the game. He certainly gave me the impression that he loves his work.
You can see in how he wants to get on the ball, regardless of the score, and he finishes his socks for the team. He has a head start on him, which I like, and he is never shy to do those hard gardens that I like to remind people of.
A great indicator of his character is how he deals with disappointment. If something goes wrong, he can show a little anger, and there is no harm in that, but he is able to park it and continue with his play.
He is in a team where the manager demands that everyone is working hard and I never see him complaining about it. The only factor for his disadvantage is the fact that he does not get enough goals. Five in the Premier League is not enough for a player of his qualities.
Forest has a pragmatic approach. If he was in a team that was more before the front, it could bring out his skills for the goal, but Nottingham Forest is a very good place for him to play his football at the moment.
He has now been proven and tested in the division, but the only question mark is against him, if he left, he could also play in a side where the opposition treats you as if it were their cup final every week. That would be the challenge for him.
At 25 he comes to the most productive point in his career where he must be in his splendor for the next five to seven years. He is a maker, he has the Wormkrate, all attributes, it's just as he can be every season to double figures in goals.
I think he can mix it with the best and there are many more people than I will think so. Certainly, people like Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta will think 'he would be a real asset for our football team'.
Forest now, are not too wrong on the side that the Liverpool's number had in my match days for a few years. They absorb the pressure and touch you on the break. You know what you're going to get.
On Sunday there are no surprises for the two coaches. City will dominate the possession, and forest will try to combat and get goals during the break or via Set pieces. City works in an acceleration below what we have been used to see in the past five years.
It surprised me to read Kevin De Bruyne's comments last week that he was shocked that he did not get a new city contract.
He will know better than anyone else in the past year that his influence on the team is playing. It manifests itself by not getting your passages quickly enough, being trapped, unable to do the intense prints for 90 minutes and the tendency to pick up more muscle injuries. The signs have been there in the last 12 months. He would be the first to realize that.
Whether he wants to stay here in the most demanding competition in the world is up to him. The problem for every club here is that it will be difficult to match the wages.
There may be no transfer costs, but paying him close to the salary he is on, would cause a problem for the manager with others in the dressing room that demand the same and knock on the manager's door. He could go to Saudi Aarabia or America where he could be a superstar, but if he stays here, he must be honest with himself.
For City it is not rocket science. The will of De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have all got older and do not have the energy levels they used to have. That is what Pep wants to change this summer.
Liverpool deserves to embrace Title Triumph
I was there when Liverpool got their last Premier League title in an empty stadium because of Covid in 2020.
I was sad for the players, because I can tell you that the experience of winning a competition title for Liverpool supporters is one that is unparalleled.
So Sunday, against Tottenham, is a great opportunity for the current side to taste that.
There are images of me that threw the old first division trophy in the air for Ronnie Whelan to catch just after I presented it by our old chairman John Smith. That was also against Spurs in 1982. Nobody ever asked me why I did that and looking back on the images that you would think I never wanted. Even today I still can't tell you why I did that. But it was my first title as a captain and my instinctive emotion wanted to share it with my teammates.
The great thing was that Liverpool fans got what it meant to win that trophy. It meant that we were the best team in the country. You could also see that satisfaction in the faces of the staff.
Van Bill Shankly after that the staff always stated that this was the number one target of each season: the competition title.
They thought it was more about us as a group and more about them; How they had done that season in managing the group of players with whom they had worked.
They did not often issue compliments, but you could see that it made them very happy.
If you are a player, you can think and say: “That was a difficult season,” but it also had to be difficult for them because they would share the lows and the highlights of a long, hard nine months.
The gray dynasty lives on at Leeds
Eddie Gray must be extremely proud to see his big cousin Harry continue on their great family Dynasty at Leeds United.
It is no wonder that he paved a tear when Harry got his debut against Stoke City when Leeds deserved promotion. To also follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Frank, father Andy and Broer Archie, who have already been proven to the club, Harry will do well to reach the standards of his predecessors in the family. Certainly, great uncle Eddie and Grandpa, Frank laid the bar high on Elland Road.
Eddie was a wizard of a player and always a gentleman. We met on holiday in the south of France and started running together. Although he is the best part of five years older, Eddie was always on those sunny evenings that ran along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I never caught him.
Vardy's Fairytale should inspire the next generation
Jamie Vardy earns a lot of praise for shaping the career he has had.
At the age of 16, Vardy was released by Sheffield on Wednesday, but he did not take the route from your usual academy player to be released. Via Stocksbridge Park Steels, Halifax and Fleetwood go before you win a competition title with Leicester City and playing for England is a fantastic achievement.
There is a lesson to learn here for every aspiring -young football player.
My own story was that at the age of 19 I was sold by Spurs for £ 30,000 to Middlesbrough.
It is clear that the decision makers of Spurs thought that I would not be good enough for them in the future and yet, five years later, I was transferred to Liverpool for a record compensation between two English clubs of £ 352,000.
In this game, disappointment is guaranteed. It's how you deal with it.