Swansea City have sent promising youngster Morgan Whittaker out on loan to Lincoln City, and he’s already made an explosive impact.

20-year-old Whittaker joined the Swans last season, scoring on his debut for Steve Cooper’s side. With a great turn of pace and plenty of tricks up his sleeve, he seemed to be a strong acquisition, but Cooper’s departure in the summer changed that. Russell Martin arrived with his 3-5-2 formation, which doesn’t suit an out-and-out winger, meaning Morgan was left out in the cold.

He saw a loan move to Lincoln collapse at the last minute in August but returned to the Swans and barely had any game time. Talk of a move to Lincoln, a division below Swansea in League One, has been rife all autumn, with the switch finally confirmed on January 1. There are reports from Swansea Independent that Lincoln have a £500,000 purchase clause, should his loan be a success, but that would more than triple their current record purchase.

Whittaker made his debut for Michael Appleton’s side a week after joining, and he had a significant impact. His dummy run created space for Anthony Scully to score the opener against high-flying Oxford United, and Whittaker himself added the second with a neat finish from just inside the box. It wasn’t just the goal involvements that should have Swans fans interested, though; he was a constant thorn in the side of Oxford full-back Steve Seddon, and his range of creative passing resulted in numerous chances for the struggling Imps.

Indeed, Whittaker joined a team fourth from bottom of their division, just five months after they came within a single game of joining the Swans in the Championship. However, their 2-0 win was their first home league victory since October, and it elevated them out of the bottom four. After the game, Whittaker revealed he grew up near Lincoln and watched them during their historic FA Cup run in 2017.

Swansea fans will hope that Whittaker’s loan move is as much of a success as that of another Championship star, Nottingham Forest’s Brennan Johnson. The two players are remarkably similar, playing out wide and struggling to get Championship football when they joined Lincoln. Johnson made an immediate impact at Sincil Bank, scoring 13 goals in 49 appearances, including a hat trick against Russell Martin’s MK Dons in the spring. He’s returned to Steve Cooper’s current side, Forest, who are amongst the favourites for promotion to the Premier League in the football odds listed on Coral, and played a key role. He could even get to the top flight before his club side; he’s reportedly the subject of intense interest from Brentford, with £20m the suggested asking price.

There’s no suggestion Morgan Whittaker will go to Lincoln and come back with an eight-figure price on his head, but there’s also no doubting Michael Appleton’s record with young players. He took Tayo Edun from Fulham at the end of his pathway and sold him for £500,000, rising with add-ons, eighteen months later. He also signed Anthony Scully in a similar manner from West Ham, with the striker currently on 12 goals from 21 appearances this season, with a £750,000 price tag on his head.

Morgan Whittaker’s loan move to Lincoln City certainly makes footballing sense, and if he develops there as others have, it could make significant financial sense as well.