Morgan Gibbs-White, the Nottingham Forest star, has outlined how his loan spell at Sheffield United shaped him as he looks to cap a successful personal season with a fairytale call-up to the England squad for this summer’s World Cup. The 26-year-old has six caps at senior level.

He and the rest of Thomas Tuchel’s England group will learn their fate tomorrow [Friday] when the German names his final squad for the tournament, held across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Gibbs-White has certainly made a compelling case, with his 14 goals the highest tally by an Englishman in the Premier League this season to help Forest to top-flight survival and the semi-final of the Europa League.

But he has not forgotten the grounding that life at the Lane gave him, having joined the Blades late in the summer transfer window in 2021. He had made 80 appearances for Wolves at that point, after coming through the academy, but was in and out at Molineux.

But his year at United, which ended with the Blades falling agonisingly short in the play-offs after defeat to Forest on penalties – with Gibbs-White, ironically, missing the decisive kick – proved the catalyst for his move to the City Ground in a deal which could eventually be worth more than £42m.

Since then he has established himself at Premier League level, being shortlisted for the division’s player of the year award, and has set the blueprint for the loan players who join United this summer in terms of what a successful season can do.

Speaking to The Times this week, Gibbs-White explained a tattoo on his left thigh, inspired by The Office writer and actress Mindy Kaling, which reads: “If you don’t see a clear path for what you want, sometimes you have to make it yourself.”

“That tattoo was because after the Under-17 World Cup [in 2017, which he and England won] I’d seen a path of me just going on a trail with no downs. Just all ups. And then reality hit, and I was really struggling.

“So then I had to make a decision to go out on loan, to play men’s football to just humble me a bit and get that bit of experience. It matured me in ways I didn’t think I had.

“[I learned], among big guys who are probably not the best compared to the Premier League but are working their socks off every game, that you can’t just rely on ability. You’ve got to work, you’ve got to rat around, you’ve got to be giving of yourself 110 per cent every day.”

Unitedites will certainly recognise that in their memories of Gibbs-White, who formed a devastating partnership with another mercurial talent in Iliman Ndiaye and delivered some sublime moments that season, including a remarkably audacious flicked finish in victory over Chris Wilder’s Middlesbrough.

But he also gave absolutely everything for the cause, a trait which has served him well in the years since – and what he hopes will lie ahead. “England means so much to me because I’ve been through every single age group,” he added.

“Done the hard yards, done the dirty work there, and every kid dreams of it . . . then when you [play for England] you want more and more.”

If he does make the plane, he will do so bearing a scar on his face as a remnant of a worrying clash with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez earlier this month. “It’s healing really well, but it was a scary moment when I looked down and saw all the blood.

“The specialist said if it had been around my eye, and not full head-to-head, it could have been really dangerous. I got lucky Sánchez came in at a certain angle and it was almost like a knife cut, a slice.

“I thought to myself: ‘It’s a good job I’m a footballer [because of the scar], otherwise my missus might be leaving me…’ No, I’m joking. She’s a good girl. I kind of liked it, to be fair. It gives me a bit more personality now. I’ve been a massive Harry Potter fan ever since I was a kid. So now I’m buzzing off it.”

Now United must search for someone capable of conjuring up their former loan star’s kind of Bramall Lane magic next season as they look to push for promotion.