Football League World
·4 August 2024
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·4 August 2024
The Pilgrims will be crossing their fingers for these three developments in the coming weeks
With a little under a month remaining in the summer transfer window, Wayne Rooney still has plenty of work to do in his role at Plymouth Argyle, with incomings and outgoings potentially on the cards in the coming weeks.
The Greens have been at the centre of a number of transfer sagas throughout the past few months, and as it stands there are still some issues that are yet to be resolved for the Devon outfit.
Whether it is adding extra personnel to the playing squad, or keeping hold of star names that have excelled during their time at Home Park, there will be plenty going on over the next month, with fingers firmly crossed that the Pilgrims get the outcome they want in all scenarios.
With that in mind, FLW takes a look at three things the Green Army will be hoping happen between now and the end of the month, which will make the season ahead much easier to tackle.
There are no prizes for guessing what would be number one on any Argyle fan’s wish list this summer, with the Home Park outfit currently doing all they can to keep hold of Morgan Whittaker.
The 19-goal forward has attracted plenty of interest of late, with Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers among those said to be keen, while Scottish Premiership side Rangers have reportedly had a £7 million bid rejected for the former Swansea City man.
With speculation continuing to surround the left-footed wonder, everyone in the green half of Devon will be wanting to hear no further updates regarding the 23-year-old, until September is here and he is still turning out for the Pilgrims.
With his ability to find the net from range on a regular basis, and quick-thinking causing all manner of difficulty for opposition defences, it would be a hard task to replace the winger, so to keep hold of him - regardless of the cash waved under their noses - will be imperative on a strong Championship season ahead.
While keeping hold of top talent is always a priority, no Plymouth Argyle transfer window is complete these days without a number of players joining the club on loan.
The Devon outfit have made great use of borrowing some classy stars in recent seasons, with the aforementioned Whittaker initially being lent to the Pilgrims from Swansea, before his deal was turned permanent.
Rooney will be looking to make the most of that approach in the transfer market with his new side in the coming weeks, with attention already being focused on Liverpool’s young striker Jayden Danns.
The 18-year-old has been linked with moving to Home Park on a season-long loan deal of late, as the Argyle boss looks to address the issues in front of goal that his side had in the previous campaign.
The Greens failed to score more than once in each of their final 12 league matches of last season, as they got themselves dragged into a relegation battle, before dramatically clawing themselves out of the mire in the final game of the campaign.
Danns could be the perfect addition to help fix those issues in the final third, with the teenager already proving his talents in front of goal for the Reds’ development side, with three goals in seven games during 23/24.
Adding the frontman before the season begins would be a great bit of business for Argyle, as they look to revert to their fearless approach going forward that served them so well in the past.
Whittaker isn’t the only Argyle player to have gained the interest of a number of top clubs this summer, with goalkeeper Michael Cooper also earning plenty of admirers in recent months.
The shot-stopper is said to have rejected a deal to make him the highest earner at the club during the off-season, which has led to speculation about his future.
The Sun journalist Alan Nixon has claimed that Sheffield United and Crystal Palace are chasing the Greens’ number one, with a reported £3 million price tag said to be upon his head.
But Rooney has since come out to say that he fully expects his custodian to be between the sticks for the 24/25 curtain-raiser against Sheffield Wednesday next weekend, with Argyle’s stance unchanging on Cooper’s future.
When asked on the situation, Rooney said: "Truthfully, not as far as I'm aware, and I think he's worth a lot more than £3m as well. As I keep saying, Coops is here, he's happy, he will be in our squad for the first game of the season, no doubt about that.
"He's aware of that, his agent is aware of that. You can see the reception he gets from the fans, they want him here, and since I have been at the club I have had no indication from Michael Cooper that he won't be here."
If that continues for the rest of the month, Argyle fans will be ecstatic, and if all three potential scenarios listed go their way, they will fancy their chances of improving on their Championship performance of the last campaign.