It seems as though Ben Whiteman of Doncaster Rovers might be the most in-demand player in the Football League this transfer window, with a whole host of clubs looking at the midfielder.
Ben Whiteman is Wanted by a Number of Teams This Transfer Window
Plenty of Championship Suitors
The moment that the winter window opened its doors, a slew of potential new suitors made themselves known. Queens Park Rangers and Preston North End were the first and they’ve both been quick to register their interest in the midfielder.
North End have been the most prominent potential buyers, with reports even claiming that the player himself has had his head turned by the prospect of Championship football at Deepdale.
Fuel was only thrown into the fire when he missed this weekend’s Doncaster game. Yes, the club have claimed it comes down to him recovering from COVID-19 but could it also be down to the fact Whiteman now himself fancies a move elsewhere?
To add even more into the mix, it’s emerged that two more teams – Nottingham Forest and Derby County – are also both keen to get the player on their books.
Doncaster Desperate to Keep The Midfielder
He’s certainly a man in demand. That’s four teams from a higher tier, and not just any sides either. These are sides that tend to do their battling at the top end of the table, meaning Whiteman certainly must have something about him to pique their interest.
Doncaster will be desperate to keep hold of him but he’s hot property and will no doubt command a sizeable fee. The League One side may be resigned to losing him and with several potential places that he could end up at, what is it about Whiteman that makes him such a hot commodity?
Whiteman Came Through the Manchester United Youth Ranks
First off, let’s take a look at his career to date. For starters, he spent his time as a youth player plying his trade for Manchester United and then Sheffield United – a sure-fire sign that he must have some talent about him. The Red Devils are well renowned for producing considerable talent off their youth breadline and the Blades are quite good at bringing through promising young players to boot.
The latter of the two gave Whiteman his debut in professional football aged just 19-years-old. Playing six games in his debut campaign, he then featured a further two times a season later as Sheffield United were promoted from League One. However, during this title-winning campaign, the club decided to send him out on a loan to Mansfield Town to give him some more valuable first-team experience. It paid off.
Whiteman flourished when given the chance in the fourth tier. Within his first month, he was up for the league’s Player of the Month award. He’d bagged his first goal – showing how capable he is in attack and defence – in his second Mansfield game. Come the end of the campaign, he won a Player of the Season award, despite only being at the club from January onwards.
Ben Whiteman Sealed a Doncaster Transfer Move
He joined Doncaster, initially on loan, a season later and continued to go from strength to strength. Unfazed by the move up in level to League One, he quickly became a regular in the Rovers side. Able to contribute both defensively and in attack (he even bagged a ten-minute hat-trick for Doncaster during his loan spell) he was one of the third tier’s most exciting players and was recalled by Sheffield United because of it.
Doncaster though had seen enough to warrant bringing him to the club permanently and sealed a deal to bring him back to the side on a full-time basis. It’s where he has resided and grown ever since and if you thought that his loan spells were a fluke, you can think again.
Highest Number of Attacking Contributions
This season so far, he has proven just how capable he is. In just 18 games for Rovers so far, he has already hit his highest number of attacking contributions in his career to date with five goals and four assists. It’s his best record yet in league football.
It seems that Whiteman just continues to grow as a player. He’s still only 24-years-old and has plenty of potential yet to hit – something which, if you look at his record so far, is likely to excite whichever club he ends up at. Because Whiteman is already so adept in midfield and has the potential to get even better.
League Leader in Interceptions
As mentioned, the midfielder is tremendous in a wide range of areas too. We’ve already taken a glimpse at his attacking contributions – he gets himself forward regularly, driving the rest of his teammates towards the opposition goal with the ball at his feet and is not only capable of picking out an inch-perfect pass to find someone in a more dangerous area than him but he possesses a superb finishing touch himself (as proven by his Goal of the Season contender for Doncaster). It’s led to Whiteman even being able to play in attacking midfield, as well as his usual central midfield position.
But what about his defensive efforts? His ability to read opposition plays and break up attacks is arguably one of the best in the Football League. They say the stats don’t lie and this ability is proven by his interceptions record – he has the most interceptions of any player in League One this year so far with 51. The season before? He was once again in the top ten in the league for interceptions.
Ben Whiteman is Dependable Player For Any Team to Sign This Transfer Window
A player gifted with high work-rate and stamina, he puts in a shift at both ends of the pitch regularly. It’s why he’s often referred to as more of a box-to-box midfielder because of the fact he continually provides for his team in both areas.
He’s the kind of player most teams want in their side – often gets overlooked but so valuable and key to the way a team works in terms of turning defence into attack and creating key chances.
If he does leave Doncaster this month, it’s sure to be felt hard by fans of the League One side. However, whichever team does manage to land Whiteman, they’re sure to have an extremely hard-working and dependable midfielder on their hands.
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