Morgan Whittaker will ‘almost certainly’ be seen in a Swansea City shirt if his return to Fairwood on Thursday morning goes smoothly. Morgan has already had a discussion with Russell Martin on his recall to the club and despite social media posts by the swans forward being interpreted in a variety of ways the immediate future is positive.
And that’s a career positivity for Morgan as a Swansea City player or elsewhere. There’s no losers this January in this players scenario.
Any clarity on Whittaker will soon be realised especially as rumoured interest in him from other clubs is still high, and that isn’t speculation. Despite Plymouth Argyle stating they tried to retain Morgan’s services by offering new loan terms ( paying another fee until the end of the season and increasing his salary percentage ) the swans refused to accept any late attempt to do so. That points to one of two options for Morgan.
1. He will be sold or a deal has already been agreed regards his sale and this is merely a part of that process.
2. Due to Morgan’s development at Plymouth the swans see him as a natural fit in to the squad for the remainder of the season.
That may well be the two most obvious scenarios but an eye on the much spoken about ‘player trading model’ at the club has to be taken seriously. To that end is a sale this month, in the summer or next January the objective ? The longer Morgan is a success, then more money will be banked from the proceeds of any sale.
Obvious ? But it’s a gamble. Is it best now to cash in whilst his stock is high ?
Only a few know Morgan’s future this morning, his immediate future is playing itself out much the same as Michael Obafemi, Jamie Paterson and Ryan Manning. The first two positions Morgan can fill. And any sensible football club with an asset like Morgan Whittaker faced with players forcing their contractual hands like Manning and Joel Latibeaudiere has to have a back up plan. Those frowned upon players having disrupted matters off and on for a year - both Paterson and Obafemi have also burned their bridges it seems. That’s four first team picks potentially moving on, and one coming in.
Then of course the financial savings of those four players leaving is fairly big. Manning, Obafemi and Paterson match each others earnings of around nine thousand a week, that’s over a hundred thousand a month as a guesstimate for all three plus a far lower salary for Latibeaudiere. Money will always be the crucial factor in these decisions, Morgan’s salary is below that of those players talked about above, bar Latibeaudiere, sensibly and as we have discussed before not recalling him would have been a huge error.
Fin Stevens ( Brentford) has also gone, more savings, what happens with Armstrong Oko-Flex is an ever changing daily issue, although that will come to an end this week surely ? In fact Sundays FA Cup game at Bristol City could reveal an interesting Swansea line up. The logistics of this window for Swansea City are huge, the figures may well have been done and the options already considered. Getting those two much sought after players over the line this week ( aside to what we have spoken about so far ) is also a priority but hours turn in to days very quickly at this time of year.
Is this the busiest January ever for the swans ?
You bet it is.