Bruno Lage: Morgan Gibbs-White can be an important player for Wolves next season

The 22-year-old academy graduate helped fire Sheffield United into the play-offs with 12 goals and 10 assists, before they lost to Nottingham Forest in the semi-final.

Lage originally wanted to keep Gibbs-White last summer but could not guarantee him game time, before the head coach tried to lure him back to Wolves in January.

However, Gibbs-White decided to stay in south Yorkshire and was a key cog in United’s rise – and Lage is now eager to integrate him back into the Wolves set-up for next season.

“I was very happy with Morgan,” Lage said. “I will not treat him as a kid because now he’s a professional and he’s a man.

“When Hwang (Hee-chan) came he understood that maybe he didn’t have the space to play so he went on-loan and did a fantastic job.

“In January I did everything to convince him to stay here. It was very clear and I gave him space and time to think about it.

“At the end of January we spoke and between him, Scott (Sellars) and me, we decided he would go and finish the season there. After we will see. If I want him in January, I continue to want him here because he can be an important player for the club.

“He’s one of the players that comes from the academy and I know it’s so important for the club to have that. I am a foreigner and we have a lot of foreign players but it’s important for the club to have players from the academy and born in the UK, because they love Wolves more than me because they grew up here.

“I am here just one year and love to be here but the way players like Morgan loves the club is in a different way.”

When asked if he would like to give him a chance this summer, Lage confirmed he has already communicated that message with Gibbs-White.

“He already knows that because I spoke with him in the last (few) days about that,” he added.

Gibbs-White had previously enjoyed a short spell on-loan with Championship outfit Swansea last season, where he scored one and assisted another in four appearances before he fractured his foot.

He then made one appearance for them in January 2021 before Wolves recalled him due to a spate of injuries in the squad.