Plymouth Argyle have a fight on their hands to remain in the Championship, with the final day of the season looming.
Whether they are playing in the second or third tier of English football next season, they are sure to lose their star man Morgan Whittaker.
Replacing Whittaker is integral for Argyle and a former target, currently of Reading FC, is an ideal candidate.
Whittaker has become the worst-kept secret in the EFL when it comes to his potency in green and white.
The original loan move that took him from Swansea City down to Devon was hugely impressive and he has since gone from strength to strength since signing for Plymouth Argyle permanently.
European football beckoned in January as Italian side Lazio came calling, only for the club to reject their advances.
It would be a shock if the Pilgrims are able to retain Whittaker’s services in the summer given his exploits.
19 goals and eight assists is a remarkable return in the league given that the forward is playing for a relegation-threatened team.
It wasn’t that long ago that he was challenging the likes of Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn Rovers) and Adam Armstrong (Southampton) at the top of the Championship scoring charts. He has struggled to maintain the pace of late but that won’t have harmed his marketability whatsoever.
Argyle will likely receive a fee of 10 or 20 times the reported fee – north of £1 million – they spent on Whittaker and so reinvesting that amount of money well will have a monumental impact on the Devon club.
One player who could go some way to replacing Whittaker, who was included in the Championship Team of the Season, is Reading’s Harvey Knibbs.
