Morgan Whittaker

Morgan Whittaker

Personal information
Full name	Morgan Reece Whittaker[1]
Date of birth	(2001-01-07) 7 January 2001 (age 24)[2]
Place of birth	Derby, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.87 m)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Middlesbrough
Number	11
Youth career
0000–2019	Derby County
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2021	Derby County	25	(1)
2021–2023	Swansea City	33	(2)
2022	→ Lincoln City (loan)	20	(5)
2022–2023	→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)	25	(9)
2023–2025	Plymouth Argyle	65	(22)
2025–	Middlesbrough	0	(0)
International career^‡
2017	England U16	3	(3)
2017	England U17	1	(0)
2018–2019	England U18	9	(1)
2019	England U19	2	(0)
2020	England U20	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:33, 19 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:35, 13 October 2020 (UTC)

Morgan Reece Whittaker (born 7 January 2001) is an English footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or right winger for EFL Championship club Middlesbrough.

Whittaker began his playing career at Derby County's academy before making his senior debut for the club in August 2019.

Club career

Derby County

On 12 August 2019, Whittaker made his professional debut as an 87th-minute substitute in the EFL Cup for Derby County against Scunthorpe United[3] and made his first start in a 3–0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest in the same competition. He signed a new contract with Derby running until June 2023 on 22 January 2020.[4] Whittaker finished the season with three starts and eighteen substitute appearances and scored his first career goal with the second Derby goal in a 3–1 win away to Birmingham City on the final day.

Whittaker started the 2020–21 season by scoring the winning-penalty in a 3–2 shootout victory over Barrow in the EFL Cup and continued making frequent substitute appearances throughout the course of the season.

Swansea City

On 1 February 2021, Whittaker joined fellow Championship side Swansea City on a four-and-a-half-year deal.[5] Nine days later, Whittaker scored on his debut for the Swans in a 3–1 home defeat by Premier League side Manchester City in the FA Cup.[6] His first league goal came on 1 May 2021 in the penultimate game of the season to equalise in an eventual 2–1 victory over Derby County that kept his former side firmly in the relegation battle.[7]

On 24 August 2021, Whittaker scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Plymouth Argyle in the second round of the EFL Cup.[8] It was the first hat-trick scored by a Swansea player since Scott Sinclair in the 2011 Championship play-off final.[8]

Lincoln City (loan)

On 1 January 2022, Whittaker joined Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the season.[9] He made his debut against Oxford United on 8 January 2022, starting and scoring in the game.[10]

Plymouth Argyle (loan)

On 20 July 2022, Whittaker joined Plymouth Argyle on a season-long loan deal.[11] Having scored three vital goals and claiming an assist across September 2022, Whittaker was awarded the EFL League One Player of the Month Award with Argyle sitting top of the league.[12]

On 4 January 2023 Swansea City exercised their recall clause in his season-long loan. Whittaker had scored nine goals and created seven assists in 25 third-tier appearances since moving to Home Park in July 2022.[13]

Return to Plymouth Argyle

On 17 July 2023, Whittaker returned to Plymouth Argyle in a deal reported to be worth around £1 million plus add-ons – a record fee for the club.[14]

Whittaker would go on to score on his debut in a 3–1 win over Huddersfield Town.

On 23 September 2023, Whittaker scored a hat-trick for Argyle in a 6–2 win against Norwich City.[15]

Whittaker was awarded the EFL Championship Player of the Month award for January 2024, having scored in four out of five of the club's league fixtures.[16] His performances throughout the season earned him a place in the EFL Championship Team of the Season after scoring 20 goals in 50 appearances in all competitions.[17][18] He was later named as the club's Player of the Season.[19]

On 21 January 2025, Whittaker missed Plymouth's 5–0 defeat to Burnley with manager Miron Muslic saying that Whittaker had not shown up in time for the game despite being selected amidst rumours of a potential transfer departure.[20] Whittaker has denied these claims.[21]

Middlesbrough

On 24 January 2025, Whittaker joined Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee, which has been reported to be £5 million plus £2.5 million worth of add-ons.[22]

International career

Having represented England at U16 to U20 level, Whittaker made his U19 debut on 9 September 2019 during a 1–0 defeat to Germany in Haiger.[23]

On 13 October 2020, Whittaker made his debut for the England U20s during a 2–0 victory over Wales at St. George's Park.[24]

Career statistics

As of match played 11 January 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Derby County	2019–20[25]	Championship	16	1	3	0	2	0	—		21	1
	2020–21[26]	Championship	9	0	0	0	2	0	—		11	0
	Total		25	1	3	0	4	0	—		32	1
Swansea City	2020–21[26]	Championship	12	1	1	1	—		0	0	13	2
	2021–22[27]	Championship	6	0	0	0	3	3	—		9	3
	2022–23[28]	Championship	15	1	0	0	0	0	—		15	1
	Total		33	2	1	1	3	3	0	0	37	6
Lincoln City (loan)	2021–22[27]	League One	20	5	—		—		—		20	5
Plymouth Argyle (loan)	2022–23[28]	League One	25	9	1	0	1	0	4	0	31	9
Plymouth Argyle	2023–24[29]	Championship	46	19	3	1	1	0	0	0	50	20
	2024–25[30]	Championship	18	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	20	4
	Total		64	22	4	2	2	0	0	0	70	24
Career total			167	39	9	3	10	3	4	0	190	45

Honours

Plymouth Argyle

• EFL League One: 2022–23[31]
• EFL Trophy runner up: 2022–23[32]

Individual

• EFL League One Player of the Month: September 2022[12]
• EFL Championship Player of the Month: January 2024[16]
• EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2023–24[17]
• Plymouth Argyle Player of the Season: 2023–24[19]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Derby" (PDF). English Football League. p. 24. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
2. Morgan Whittaker at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
3. "Scunthorpe United vs. Derby County – 13 August 2019". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
4. "DERBY DUO KNIGHT AND WHITTAKER PEN NEW CONTRACTS". Derby County. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
5. "SWANSEA CITY SIGN MORGAN WHITTAKER FROM DERBY COUNTY". Swansea City A.F.C. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
6. "Swansea City 1–3 Manchester City: Pep Guardiola's men go into record books". BBC Sport. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
7. "Swansea City 2–1 Derby County". BBC Sport. 1 May 2021.
8. "Morgan Whittaker scored a late second-half hat-trick as Swansea City overcame League One Plymouth Argyle to reach the third round of the EFL Cup". BBC. 24 August 2021.
9. "Whittaker joins Imps on loan". Lincoln City F.C. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
10. "Whittaker in dreamland after debut strike". Lincoln City F.C. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
11. "Whittaker Signs From Swansea and scores a debut hatrick Vs Derby county". www.pafc.co.uk. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
12. "Schumacher and Whittaker Win September EFL Awards". www.pafc.co.uk. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
13. "Swansea recall Whittaker from Plymouth loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
14. "Swansea striker makes permanent £1m-plus Plymouth Argyle move". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
15. "Plymouth hit six in impressive win over Norwich". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
16. "Morgan Whittaker Named Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month for January". www.pafc.co.uk. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
17. "See who made the EFL Team of the Season line-ups". EFL. 14 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
18. "Argyle's Whittaker closing in on Middlesbrough move". BBC Sport. 24 January 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
19. Errington, Chris (10 May 2024). "Morgan Whittaker voted Plymouth Argyle 2023/24 Player of the Season". Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
20. Pilnick, Brent (22 January 2025). "Whittaker 'didn't show up in time' for Burnley game". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
21. Cole, Jackson (26 January 2025). "Morgan Whittaker hits back at 'devastating' Plymouth manager's claims he refused to play in statement". talkSPORT. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
22. "Plymouth's Whittaker completes £6m Boro move". BBC Sport. 24 January 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
23. "Paul Simpson's Young Lions suffer 1–0 defeat against Germany in Haiger". TheFA.com. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
24. Veevers, Nicholas (13 October 2020). "TWO QUICKFIRE GOALS IN THE FIRST HALF SEAL WIN FOR LEE CARSLEY'S YOUNG LIONS AT SGP". TheFA.com. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
25. "Games played by Morgan Whittaker in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
26. "Games played by Morgan Whittaker in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
27. "Games played by Morgan Whittaker in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
28. "Games played by Morgan Whittaker in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
29. "Games played by Morgan Whittaker in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
30. "Games played by Morgan Whittaker in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
31. Errington, Chris (15 May 2023). "Morgan Whittaker getting Argyle League One winners' medal". PlymouthLive. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
32. Pilnick, Brent (2 April 2023). "Bolton crush Plymouth to win Papa Johns Trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2023.