Morgan Whittaker happy at Plymouth Argyle but his goal is to get to higher level

Whittaker was at the centre of at times intense transfer speculation this summer but remained at Home Park

Morgan Whittaker has declared he is 'really happy' at Plymouth Argyle after a summer of at times intense transfer speculation, including bids for him from Championship rivals Burnley which were turned down by the Home Park club.

The talented 23-year-old attacker has his focus on playing for the Pilgrims, although he has admitted he wants to progress his career by getting to the highest level he possibly can. That is understandable given the tremendous success he has had at Argyle, both in an initial loan spell from Swansea City and then after completing a joint club record £1 million transfer ahead of what turned out to be a stand-out 2023/24 season for him.

It led to Italian club Lazio making an unsuccessful bid for Whittaker last January and then Burnley made a strong push to sign him at the end of the summer transfer window, but on both occasions he remained at Argyle.

Whittaker was also at the centre of transfer speculation in January 2023 when he was recalled by Swansea from his loan at Argyle and was strongly linked to Scottish Premiership side Rangers, but no move materialised for him.

So all the talk about his future this summer was nothing new to him. Whittaker said: "I have been in this situation before so I know how to handle it and I found ways it worked for me, and that's just focusing on what I can do.

"I think the difference to when I was at Swansea is I knew I was going to play here. In my eyes it was a win win because I love it here and I'm playing all the time, and if I got the chance to move it would be to the higher level I want to be getting to. I didn't see it as a bad position to be in."

It got to the stage with Burnley's interest in Whittaker that Argyle took the view late on transfer deadline day there was not enough time to find an adequate replacement for arguably their most important player and they made it clear he was not for sale, which finally brought an end to the summer of speculation about him.

Whittaker said: "There was stuff in the media that came out and I'm a footballer so I want to be playing as high as I possibly can so when teams like Burnley etc come in you are not going to turn it away and say no.

"Obviously, it's what I want to be doing, progressing my career, but at the same time I'm really happy here, playing all the time and learning from a really good manager and ex-player in Wayne (Rooney)."

On why he liked being at Argyle so much, Whittaker said: "The love you get from the fans and how comfortable I am with the players. I think it shows. That's why I'm happy here because it ticks every box in my eyes. The career I have had, it has been difficult with ups and downs and Plymouth have given me the platform to show what I can do."

He added: "In football it's hard to find a good relationship with everyone and everything to do with the club and that's what I have found here. As a footballer you would be stupid not to want to play at the highest level you possibly can, and after the season I had (in 2023/24) I thought it was fair I had the opportunity, but football is football and it hasn't happened so my focus is here."

And with the summer transfer speculation now behind him, Whittaker said: "It's nice not to be on my phone all the time!"

The most immediate focus for Whittaker, and Argyle, is their fixture against Luton Town, one of the three clubs relegated from the Premier League last season, at Home Park tomorrow night (8pm). Whittaker said: "These are the games you want to play in, Friday night on Sky against one of the best teams in the league. We are ready for it."

Apart from their season-opening 4-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, Argyle have been competitive in the rest of their games, beating then league leaders Sunderland 3-2 at Home Park on September 14 before narrowly losing 1-0 away to new table-toppers West Bromwich Albion last Saturday.

They have picked up five points from six matches, which leaves them in 20th position in the Championship going into the game against Luton.

Whittaker said: "We are in most games, apart from the first one. I think we were really unfortunate against West Brom. I think if a couple of our chances go in in the first half it's a different game. We are competing with the big teams who have got way bigger budgets, bigger squads and it's just a testament to Plymouth."

At this early stage of the season Whittaker is joint top for the most shots by any player in the Championship, along with Sheffield United's Gustavo Hamer, with 16 apiece. Nine of Whittaker's have been on target yet he has got only one goal so far.

Whittaker said: "That's something that for me personally is frustrating. My shots aren't going over or wide, they are being saved. I'm just waiting for one to even go under the keeper's arm, not go in the top corner, to be honest.

"It's just little things like that. We are not miles away from where we want to be. I think every game we are getting better and better. People think it's Plymouth v Luton and we are the underdogs. We don't see it that way. The way we have been playing we will compete with everyone."

One of the features of Argyle's play in recent games has been the attacking balance provided by Whittaker wide on the right and Ibrahim Cissoko, the Dutch under-21 international winger, on the left.

Whittaker said: "I think that's why we were so good at the start of last season, we had me on the right and Bali (Mumba) was playing on the left. We had threats from both sides.

"The second half of the season we struggled to find that balance but now we have got that with Ibi on the left hand side. You can see his quality and he's getting better each game."

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