The Plymouth Argyle player that Kristjaan Speakman and Sunderland may watch closely this weekend
Sunderland return to Championship action with a trip to Plymouth Argyle next weekend.
Sunderland are out of action this weekend, but back in action next weekend.
And it’s another long-haul trip down to the south coast for Regis Le Bris and his first-team squad, who go up against Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle.
The Green Army are winless this season. They’ve taken just two points from their opening four games compared to Sunderland who’ve won all four of their opening league fixtures.
Plymouth currently sit in 22nd place of the Championship table compared to Sunderland in 1st, following their 3-1 win vs Portsmouth last time out.
Plymouth in their last outing lost 1-0 vs former boss Steven Schumacher and his Stoke City side.
Despite a tough start, Plymouth still boast some quality players, especially in attack, and Sunderland and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman may be paying close attention to one Plymouth player in particular.
Kristjaan Speakman may watch Morgan Whittaker’s performance in Plymouth Argyle vs Sunderland
Last summer, Sunderland were linked with Morgan Whittaker at Plymouth.
The former Derby County and Swansea City man went on to shine for Plymouth last season, after making his loan move from Swansea permanent.
He scored 19 goals on the Championship; outscoring Sunderland’s top scorer Jack Clarke by four.
Whittaker also grabbed eight assists in what was quite an unprecedented season for the 23-year-old, who has one goal in four league game so far this season.
Morgan Whittaker would be a dream signing for Sunderland
Whittaker is very much like Clarke in the way that he moves on the ball, and given the fact that he’s got a clear eye for goal at Championship level.
Since Clarke’s move to Ipswich Town, Romaine Mundle has stepped up to the plate with goals in each of his last two games.
Sunderland captain Dan Neil has praised Mundle’s recent form. But there remains a lack of depth in that position; or least a lack of proven quality with the likes of Ian Poveda still, realistically, quite unproven at Championship level.
There’s also Tom Watson knocking on the door of the first-team, and Watson is backed to make an impact this season, but he could be another who needs to be patient.
If Sunderland need added firepower in January then they could well look at someone like Whittaker, especially if he performs well and Plymouth do poorly in the league.
More realistically though, he could be a marquee signing for the Black Cats next summer.
He’s clearly someone who Speakman’s looked at in the past and if Plymouth go down, then there could be a lot of teams like Sunderland in the market for Whittaker.
