Morgan Whittaker Joins Colorado Rapids from Middlesbrough

Morgan Whittaker’s turbulent spell at Middlesbrough is over. The forward has left the Riverside to join MLS side Colorado Rapids on a three-year deal, with the American club holding an option for a further 12 months.

The 25-year-old moves for an undisclosed fee and will occupy one of the Rapids’ coveted Designated Player slots. Colorado, managed by English coach Matt Wells, sit seventh in the Western Conference and have now made a statement attacking addition for the run-in.

Whittaker's Time at Middlesbrough

For Middlesbrough, it’s the end of a short but eventful chapter. Signed from Plymouth Argyle for £5m in January 2025 after a fierce battle for his signature, Whittaker arrived on Teesside with expectation on his shoulders and a reputation as a ruthless finisher.

The goals did not come straight away. Far from it.

Whittaker failed to score in any of his first 16 appearances as Michael Carrick’s side slid out of play-off contention on the final day of the 2024-25 season. The drought grew into a 25-game run without a goal, a barren spell that came to symbolise Boro’s stuttering push for the Premier League. At Preston North End, he was even cheered off by sections of the away end when Carrick substituted him, a brutal snapshot of a striker out of sync with his own fanbase.

Then the mood changed.

He finally “broke his duck” in a win over Ipswich Town and, once the first one went in, the floodgates opened. Whittaker rattled in eight goals in 12 games, including a blistering streak of scoring in six consecutive matches. By the time the campaign closed with Boro’s promotion hopes crushed in the play-offs, he had emerged as the club’s top scorer with 14 goals in 66 appearances.

That resurgence made his departure all the more striking. Whittaker had started all three Championship fixtures this season up to the win against West Bromwich Albion on 29 August and featured five times in total in 2025-26. Yet as Boro reshaped their squad with 12 new arrivals over the summer, the sense grew that this might be the moment for both club and player to reset.

Middlesbrough moved aggressively in the market, including a deadline-day loan for Brighton winger Amario Cozier-Duberry, and have now cashed in on a forward whose form has swung from barren to prolific in short bursts.

Colorado Rapids' Expectations

Colorado, by contrast, are betting that they are signing the version of Whittaker who terrorised Championship defences during that red-hot spring run, not the one who laboured through months without a goal.

From the Riverside roar to the thin air of Denver, Whittaker’s next chapter starts in MLS. How far can he take the Rapids with a Designated Player tag on his back and his reputation to sharpen all over again?