Swansea winger Morgan Whittaker is rapidly fading from Russell Martin's first-team plans - less than a month after the English Championship side slammed the door shut on a move to Rangers.
The 22-year-old impressed in the first half of the campaign on loan in League One with Plymouth Argyle, before he was recalled by the Swans in January as they looked to give the forward a second chance in the first-team. His form in the English third tier attracted the eyes of Rangers with the club launching a series of bids to tempt the club into a sale, with Whittaker himself keen on a move north of the border and even ruling himself out for the fixture with QPR.
Boss Russell Martin would state that the England U21 cap was not in the right frame of mind to join the squad for the fixture, but shortly after Michael Beale would admit the Scottish Premiership side had moved on from their January pursuit. After the window closed, Martin appeared gave Whittaker three months to prove that he can handle the Championship with Swansea struggling for depth.
He said: "The whole thing about Morgan, it’s so frustrating because I've got a brilliant relationship with him. I hope that’ll show in the next three months. I’ve never been anything but honest with Morgs.
"He’s come back and not been frustrated with me because I didn't make the decision to call him back. Again, it’s not in my control. The decision was made so we have to deal with that. All the nonsense is done."
With Martin admitting it wasn't his call to bring the attacker back, he has been left on the fringes of the squad with the club stuck in mid-table.
He has not started a single game since he was recalled and has instead been limited to cameos off the bench. Martin brought Whittaker on in the 90th minute in their most recent fixture against Blackburn, with his game time rapidly dropping in the four fixtures he has looked
Since the collapse of his move Rangers, he has managed just over 70 minutes of football and has failed to kickstart his career in Wales. With Todd Cantwell leaving England to ramp up his game time in Scotland, Whittaker must be looking with a disappointed glance at ibrox wonder what could have been.
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