Morgan Whittaker Joins Colorado Rapids as Designated Player
Morgan Whittaker’s turbulent spell at Middlesbrough is over. The club’s top scorer from last season has left the Riverside to join MLS side Colorado Rapids on a three-year deal.
The 25-year-old forward heads to the United States for an undisclosed fee, with the Rapids holding an option for a further year. He will occupy one of their valuable Designated Player slots, a clear sign of how highly the Western Conference side rate him.
Colorado, managed by English coach Matt Wells and currently seventh in the West, have moved decisively for a player whose time on Teesside swung wildly from goal-shy scapegoat to late-season talisman.
From goal drought to leading scorer
Whittaker arrived at Boro in January 2025 in a £5m move from Plymouth Argyle, a transfer that saw the club fend off heavy competition midway through the 2024-25 campaign. The expectation was obvious: goals, and plenty of them.
They did not come. Not at first.
He failed to score in any of his first 16 appearances for Michael Carrick’s side as Middlesbrough’s promotion push stuttered. The drought became a storyline of its own, stretching to 25 games and reaching an uncomfortable low when sections of the away support cheered his substitution at Preston North End.
Then it flipped.
Whittaker finally broke his duck in a win over Ipswich Town. The release was immediate and dramatic. He went on a tear, hitting eight goals in 12 matches, including a streak of scoring in six consecutive games. By the end of the campaign, he had dragged himself from the fringes of the squad to finish as Boro’s top scorer, even as their hopes of Premier League football were crushed in the play-offs.
Across his time at the club, he scored 14 goals in 66 appearances.
New-look Boro, new chapter for Whittaker
The timing of his departure underlines the scale of Middlesbrough’s rebuild. Carrick has overseen a busy summer, with 12 new signings through the door. The latest was Brighton winger Amario Cozier-Duberry, who arrived on loan on deadline day to further reshape the attacking options.
Whittaker had featured in five games this season, starting all three Championship fixtures up to the win over West Bromwich Albion on 29 August. Yet as the squad evolved, the club chose to cash in on a player whose value has been rebuilt over the past few months.
For Whittaker, the move offers something different again: a leading role in a growing league, in a new country, with the responsibility that comes with Designated Player status. For Boro, it is another sharp turn in a summer of change.
The question now is simple: who steps up to fill the goals he finally proved he could score on Teesside?
