Two years after Rangers saw three bids rejected, the long-time Ibrox target is finally on the move.
And for three times the fee Rangers were prepared to pay back in January 2023.
Now, for Plymouth Argyle, this feels like a fine piece of business on paper. Yes, the Championship strugglers were initially looking for £10 million this month.
But with Morgan Whittaker’s form taking a pretty dramatic dip this season, a reported £6 million fee for a winger with just four goals and one assist from 22 games in all competitions is far more than the former Swansea City starlet is worth on recent evidence.
There is a reason why Rangers, despite continuously being linked with Whittaker up until the start of this year, have opted against throwing their hat into the ring alongside the likes of Burnley, Hull City and Middlesbrough.
Rangers may need a replacement for Vaclav Cerny sooner rather than later. Parent club VFL Wolfsburg value the Czech Republic schemer at an eye-watering £8 million. And Whittaker, at his most confident and threatening, could have been a fine successor.
This is, after all, a player who scored 19 times from the right-hand flank last term while providing eight assists.
Such has been the extent of his decline, however, Middlesbrough may now be facing a relatively clear run at a man dubbed by one EFL expert as amongst ‘the worst players in his position’ across the 2024/25 Championship season.
Morgan Whittaker set for Middlesbrough as Rangers stay away
According to reporter Alan Nixon, via his official Patreon account, Michael Carrick’s play-off seeking side have had a bid accepted by Plymouth.
An initial offer of £4 million was turned down, but Middlesbrough have now returned with an improved bid of £6 million plus add-ons.
Whittaker may have played his final game in that green shirt, then. And while he would have departed with the goodwill of everyone at Home Park in a previous window – especially when Serie A giants Lazio came calling – Whittaker set fire to his bridges in midweek when refusing to turn up for selection during a humiliating 5-0 home defeat by Burnley.
“Morgan didn’t show up,” Plymouth boss Miron Muslic said.
“He was in the selection. (He didn’t) turn up. ”We had a game today and he was in the selection and he wasn’t there. It shows the mentality, or even the lack of mentality.
“You have to be professional. You have obligations, not only towards Argyle as an organisation, you have an obligation towards your team-mates and you don’t let your team-mates down, never.”
This, then, is a pretty sad end to what was supposed to be a happy Home Park tale.
Rangers may have got lucky escape with Boro-bound Whittaker
“Can we start with a really searing hot take?,” Football League pundit Ali Maxwell said earlier in the week, Whittaker going from 0.38 goals per game to 0.18.
“I think that he has been one of the worst players in his position in the league this season.”
As for Philippe Clement’s side – Rangers failed with three bids for Morgan Whittaker back in 2023, the biggest landing at around £2 million – the focus now will be on trying to negotiate a lower fee in order to keep Cerny at Ibrox for the long-haul.
The former Ajax starlet is now one away from 20 goal contributions during an increasingly influential debut season in Glasgow.
