Whittaker Joins Colorado Rapids from Middlesbrough

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, signed by Boro for £5m from Plymouth Argyle in January 2025, heads to the United States for an undisclosed fee. Colorado hold an option for a further year on his contract, and he will occupy one of their coveted Designated Player slots as they push for play-off position from seventh in the Western Conference under English head coach Matt Wells.

From goal drought to talisman

Whittaker’s Middlesbrough story never ran in a straight line.

He arrived midway through the 2024-25 campaign after Boro fought off strong competition to land him, but the move initially misfired. Across 16 appearances in that first half-season under Michael Carrick, he failed to score as Boro’s promotion bid unravelled and they slipped out of play-off contention on the final day.

The drought dragged on. It reached 25 games in total and the frustration around him boiled over at times – notably at Preston North End, where he was actually cheered off when substituted. For a forward signed to change games, it was a brutal spell.

Then the goals finally came.

Whittaker broke his duck in a win over Ipswich Town and suddenly the confidence returned. He hit eight goals in 12 matches, including a blistering run of scoring in six consecutive games, and finished the campaign as Middlesbrough’s leading marksman with 14 goals in 66 appearances overall.

Boro still fell short in the play-offs, their Premier League ambitions checked again, but Whittaker had turned from target to talisman.

New faces in, one big name out

This season began with him back in the side and trusted. Whittaker featured in five games in all competitions, starting all three Championship fixtures up to and including the win over West Bromwich Albion on 29 August.

Yet while he stayed in the XI, the landscape around him changed quickly. Middlesbrough recruited heavily in the summer, bringing in 12 new players to reshape Carrick’s squad. Among the late arrivals was Brighton winger Amario Cozier-Duberry, signed on loan on deadline day and adding fresh competition in the attacking positions.

That rebuild has now claimed a major casualty. Whittaker, once the focal point of Boro’s attack, becomes the latest English forward to test himself in MLS, trading the North-East for the altitude and open expanses of Colorado.

For Middlesbrough, it’s another pivot in a constantly evolving promotion project. For Whittaker, it’s a second chance to prove he can be the difference-maker a club builds around.