Burnley have made an opening offer to Plymouth Argyle for Morgan Whittaker. The young English forward has started all of the Pilgrims’ opening three games in the league this season, but could soon be heading up north to Turf Moor.
Whittaker has been tipped with a move away from Plymouth all summer, and even some Premier League clubs were linked. However, it looks as though one of the favourites for the Championship title, Burnley are the ones to make the first move.
Burnley lodge opening offer for Morgan Whittaker
Despite being just 23 years old, Whittaker is already very experienced in the Championship. The versatile attacker has racked up over 100 appearances in England’s second tier, but will likely be looking to better his career and not be involved in another relegation battle.
If it wasn’t for Whittaker’s 19 goals in 46 league games, then Plymouth would have likely been playing in League One right now. While Wayne Rooney will be desperate to keep his star forward, nobody could begrudge him leaving this summer.
However, what may be disappointing is if he leaves for a fellow Championship side instead of a Premier League outfit, but that could be the case. According to Fabrizio Romano, Burnley have made an opening offer for Whittaker to help him bolster their attacking options.
Plymouth to potentially lose their star man
The Clarets have already lost some top stars such as Wilson Odobert, Anass Zaroury and Johann Berg Gudmundsson, so attacking reinforcements are needed. The signing of Whittaker would be a real signal of intent from the Burnley board.
Earlier in the summer, it was believed that Whittaker had a price tag of around £15 million. So, Burnley will likely have gone beneath that for the opening offer, but time is not on their side so much quickly get around the table to negotiate.
Is Whittaker irreplaceable?
It would be seen as a huge blow for the Pilgrims if they were to lose Whittaker so late in the window. Rooney would likely require guarantees from the board that the 23-year-old would be adequately replaced, before even contemplating his departure.
Plymouth have just two points and two goals to their name this season, and Whittaker is their joint-top scorer. The English winger netted an equaliser in the Pilgrims’ last league outing against QPR, so he’s bordering on irreplaceable.
Whittaker led the Plymouth squad in the league last season when it came to both shot and goal-creating actions (FBRef). Already this term, he’s sitting top of the former metric with seven, and if he were to be sold, the Pilgrims would statistically, be a worse team going forward.