Plymouth Argyle have accepted a transfer bid from Championship rivals Middlesbrough for forward Morgan Whittaker.
Whittaker is undergoing a medical at Middlesbrough ahead of a transfer in the region of £6million ($7.5m).
The 24-year-old, who was close to leaving Plymouth last summer, missed his side’s five-goal defeat at home to Burnley on Wednesday after Plymouth head coach Miron Muslic said he “did not show up” in time for the game.
Whittaker has scored four times this season for Plymouth, who are bottom of the English second division, having scored 20 goals across all competitions in 2023-24.
Middlesbrough, who are targeting a first return to the Premier League since 2017, are fifth in the Championship and inside the promotion play-off places.
It has been a busy 48 hours for Middlesbrough, who brought back left wing-back Ryan Giles on loan from Hull City and made the signing of George Edmundson, who had been on loan from Ipswich Town, permanent for a fee in the region of £500k.
The club have also secured Ben Doak on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season. There had been a cut-off date in January which Liverpool had to invoke if they wanted Doak back at Anfield but that has passed.
On December 31, Plymouth mutually agreed to part ways with head coach Wayne Rooney — Manchester United’s record goal scorer and former England captain — and subsequently appointed Muslic.
Rooney won just four of his 23 matches in charge but the club are winless in five league matches since and most recently lost 5-0 at home to Burnley.
Plymouth are through to the FA Cup fourth round, where they will host Liverpool on February 9, after eliminating Premier League side Brentford in the third round. Their next game comes at Sunderland on Saturday.
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(Isabelle Field/Plymouth Argyle via Getty Images)
