Young Manchester City goalkeeper Oliver Whatmuff has joined Rochdale on loan for the 2025/26 season.
Oliver Whatmuff
Oliver Whatmuff has joined Rochdale on loan for the season
Oliver Whatmuff is looking forward to his first taste of senior football after the highly-rated Manchester City goalkeeper joined Rochdale on loan.
Whatmuff, 17, will spend the season with the National League side as he looks to further his development away from City's academy. It is the second loan for a City youngster to be confirmed recently, with defender Finley Burns moving to Reading in League One.
England Under-18 goalkeeper Whatmuff is well thought of at City and played eight games in Premier League 2 last season, as well as seven matches in the UEFA Youth League.
Whatmuff has been in competition with fellow academy goalkeeper Spike Brits for the spot in Ben Wilkinson's Under-21 team and Whatmuff's move suggests Brits will feature regularly for the age-group sides this season.
Whatmuff, who has been with City since the under-8s age group, was determined to join Rochdale once they showed an interest in him.
“I wanted to move into men’s football – I think I’ll gain a lot of experience. Rochdale came in a while ago and it’s been a long process, but I knew straight away that I wanted to be here," he said.
“Hopefully, it will be a great club for me, they can help and I can help the team this season. All the conversations with Jimmy [McNulty] have been positive and I just can’t wait to get started.
“Coming in during pre-season, I can get to know the lads, how everyone plays and we can start to build bonds together.”
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