£1M FLUTTER WAS NOT A LONG SHOT

PLYMOUTH Argyle paid a club-record fee of £1m to sign Morgan Whittaker from Swansea in the summer.

- Chris Dunlavy

“A big outlay for a club like ours,” admitted manager Steven Schumacher. “But I think he will be worth it.”

Four months into the Championship season, Schumacher’s prophecy has already been vindicated.

Last weekend’s spectacular opener in Plymouth’s 2-0 victory over Sunderland was Whittaker’s eighth goal of the campaign.

A further trio of assists meant only three players - Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn), Adam Armstrong (Southampton) and Crysencio Summerville (Leeds) - boasted more direct goal contributions.

“Morgan’s an incredibly talented player,” said Schumacher afterwards. “That’s what we brought him here for, to score and create goals, and that’s what he’s doing. I think he’s shown today that he is one of the best players in the Championship.”

A big claim - but one that current form makes difficult to dispute. With an average match rating of 7.38 over the opening 17 appearances according to Opta, Whittaker finished last week as the sixth-best player in the division.