How a pizza box helped show Morgan Whittaker the way back to Plymouth Argyle after 'hard' Swansea City recall
Morgan Whittaker sealed a club-record move back to Plymouth Argyle form Swansea City this week
Morgan Whittaker made a goalscoring return to the Plymouth Argyle ranks a day after he sealed his club-record move from Swansea City.
The striker, who has switched to Home Park permanently in a deal believed to be £1million plus add-ons, scored the opener with a sweet right-foot volley during the 1-1 draw with Torquay United last night.
It will have capped a fine few days for the forward, who is back in Devon after a successful loan spell last season, one which was cut short after Swansea decided to recall the 22-year-old amid a red-hot run of form.
His return to south Wales didn't go to plan, however, as he was used sparingly by Russell Martin and bids were knocked back from Rangers.
The striker admits being summoned back to SA1 was "really hard to deal with", with his heart seemingly remaining in the south west.
He quickly became a fan favourite for Steven Schumacher's side and it was on a trip to London where supporters hijacked one of his Instagram posts that showed him Plymouth were the club for him.
“I went to London and I posted a picture of a pizza,” Morgan told Plymouth's in-house media team. “It had ‘pilgrims’ written on the box. We didn't realise, but we then just clocked how everyone was a really big part of that.
“The support has been really overwhelming. I didn't realise the love that was shown when I left and still to this day, I'm getting people commenting on my Instagram.”
Whittaker said the move was a no-brainer and his switch to the newly-promoted side is probably one that suits all parties. He acknowledged how hard it was to leave Home Park and head back to Swansea because he was so settled in the south west.
“As soon as this was a serious possibility, there was no other place I'd rather have been," he said of the deal. "It was a no-brainer. I'm so happy to be here.
“The fans are really good here. The manager, the players; everything just fits for me perfectly. I'm really happy to be back.
“I'm buzzing. I know everyone close to me is buzzing. My girlfriend, both of our families; we know, from previous experience, how happy we were here, both on and off the pitch. I’m just so happy to be back and carry it on.
“It was a dream of mine to hopefully [be back], but I think at the time [the recall] was really hard to deal with. We were happy here and I was enjoying my football. I wanted to carry on for the season and try and get promotion - luckily, we did.
“I came to a home game towards the end of the season, the atmosphere was really good. I was watching from the sides wanting to be involved, but I'm just really happy we got there in the end.”
Swansea head coach Michael Duff has brought in Jerry Yates and Josh Ginnelly so far this summer to boost his attacking ranks.