Plymouth have accepted an offer for Morgan Whittaker days after manager Miron Muslic said he “didn’t turn up”.
Whittaker’s absence from the starting XI of the 5-0 home crash against Burnley sparked further speculation about his future with the Pilgrims.
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Talksport understands Burnley and Hull City have rejected bids for the winger, with Plymouth wanting a club record fee for the star.
Now they have accepted a £6m offer from Middlesbrough plus add-ons.
Whittaker has scored 33 goals in 103 appearances for Plymouth as his £1m-plus add-ons move from Swansea City in 2023, making him their record signing.
However, head coach Muslic has revealed that the winger was in his plans to play against Burnley, but Whittaker decided not to play.
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“We need players who really want to play for Argyle so we can always come to them when we need players who are ready to give everything,” he said after the defeat.
“I know he is a target and linked to transfers,” he added, before saying: “He was available today, he was in the selection and wasn’t there.
“So, it’s what I said again, we have to change this mentality, we have to change the locker room, we have to bring characters with the desire to face this challenge and give it our all, that’s our only way and our only chance.”
Muslic then elaborated: “He was in the selection and that’s all I have to say.
“Morgan is an Argyle player here who is under contract here as long as no one has paid the money that we as an organization demand to pay his value.
“He is an Argyle player and has responsibilities and obligations to Argyle and as I said before, this is one of the reasons why Argyle have struggled in recent months.
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“Morgan didn’t show up, he was in the selection,” stressed Muslic, before adding: “We had a game today, he was in the selection, he wasn’t there and that’s all I have to say about Morgan. ”
However, sources close to Whittaker insist his absence was due to a dead leg.
At Home Park, a Whittaker-less Plymouth suffered a heavy defeat in their last Championship outing and were five goals down at half-time.
Promotional youngsters Burnley scored their first goal of the night in 11 minutes through Zian Flemming.
He scored his second just after the half-hour mark before Josh Laurent added two goals on the half-time mark.
Josh Cullen scored the final goal of the game with a mid-half strike.
Plymouth suffered a 15th championship finish of the season and remains on 21 points, six behind safety.
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Portsmouth added more pressure to the Pilgrims with a 3-1 win over Stoke City to take them up to 18th with a game in hand.
Plymouth’s last championship win came on November 5th when they beat Pompey 2-1.
Since then, they have followed a 14-game winning streak in the league with their FA Cup victory against Brentford, their only triumph.
During this time, Muslic replaced Wayne Rooney as head coach.
Muslic’s side return on Saturday with a difficult trip to Sunderland, who sit fourth in the table and were heavily linked with the 42-year-old manager last summer.