Playmaker's EFL 72: #27 Morgan Whittaker

All guns have been blazing in Playmaker's countdown of the EFL's best performers of the season - and we are now reaching the real cream of the crop.

It's certainly been no easy task, but - just to clarify - our '72' is less a roll call of the best footballers in the EFL and more a tribute to those players who have enjoyed the most memorable seasons while racking up the most impressive stats.

Whatever the criteria, we're confident in our selections of the most outstanding players through the Championship, League One, and League Two and welcome any debate on the subject!

Where would Plymouth Argyle be this season without Morgan Whittaker? It's hard to imagine...

Number #27: Morgan Whittaker (Plymouth Argyle)

Plymouth Argyle need only to win their final league of the Championship season to ensure their survival and a large part of that is down to their star man this year, Morgan Whittaker.

The former Derby forward initially joined Argyle on loan for the first half of the 2022/23 season with performances good enough to earn him the 51st spot in last year's Playmaker 72.

This year has been even better for Whittaker who almost swapped Plymouth for Rome when he was close to a move to Lazio during the January market.

Whittaker didn't let himself get distracted by the thought of moving to Serie A though.

"You've just got to look and think 'these clubs are in for you, it's amazing, just use that to kick on and keep playing with confidence and don't let it stress you out," the forward said of the potential move back in February and he looks to be almost single-handedly keeping his side up.

Not only does Whittaker have the most Championship minutes for his club this season (3894) he is also his side's top goalscorer (19) and has made the most assists (8). Considering that Plymouth have scored 58 league goals in total it means that Whittaker's goals and assists count for 46.5% of his team's goals.

Is it just us or does Morgan Whittaker's belter for Plymouth @Argyle yesterday just keep getting better and better?! pic.twitter.com/Ri6QaH6Fu7

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 26, 2023

Those stats aren't just good for the Pilgrims though, they're right up there with the very best in the second tier.

Only two players – Adam Armstrong (20) and Sammie Szmodics (25) – have scored more than Whittaker in the league this season. More impressively, none of Whittaker's impressive tally came from the penalty spot either, meaning that the 23-year-old is behind only Szmodics for non-penalty goals.

Whittaker's 8 assists put him in the top ten for Championship assists this campaign and his total of 27 direct goal involvements puts him fourth of all the players in the league – that's ahead of the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Gabriel Sara, Georginio Rutter, and former teammate Finn Azaz.

Unsurprisingly, Whittaker is already being linked to some of Europe's big clubs again for this summer. Some reports suggest a move to Portugal to potentially replace Viktor Gyökeres – the winner of last year's Playmaker 72 – at Sporting.

Regardless of where he ends up next year, Whittaker's had a superb breakout season.

Playmaker's EFL 72...the countdown

28: Conor Chaplin 29: George Thomason 30: Mickey Demetriou

31: Stephy Mavididi 32: Marc Leonard 33: Josh Sheehan

34: Matt Smith 35: Kwame Poku 36: Illan Meslier 37: Aden Flint

38: Ronnie Edwards 39: Josh Sargent 40: Alex Gilbey 41: Ben Sheaf

42: Jobe Bellingham 43: Devante Cole 44: Jacob Greaves 45: Paddy Lane

46: Herbie Kane 47: Dan James 48: Archie Collins 49: Karamoko Dembele

50: Haji Wright 51: Dan Crowley 52: Cameron Brannagan 53: Aaron Collins

54: Andy Cook 55: Connor Shaughnessy 56: Jannik Vestergaard

57: Willy Gnonto 58: Ellis Simms 59: Charlie Hughes 60: Fatawu Isshaku

61: Sam Hoskins 62: Paul Mullin 63: Chris Martin 64: Omari Hutchinson

65: Isaac Hutchinson 66: Sam Tickle 67: Ben Hinchcliffe 68: Michał Helik

69: Lewis Wing 70: Rob Apter 71: Kyle Walker-Peters 72: Alex Palmer