Morgan Rogers has arrived at Cobham to undergo a Chelsea medical ahead of becoming the most expensive British signing, and a new revelation makes Chelsea’s deal all the more impressive.
On Saturday evening, it emerged that Chelsea had pulled off a major coup with the signing of the Aston Villa attacker. It sees Cole Palmer’s best pal arrive at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea paying a huge £117m.
DISCUSS: In this current market, Rogers is a bargain 👀
Arsenal had shown plenty of interest in Rogers, and reports suggest Mikel Arteta even spoke to Rogers. But Xabi Alonso had the final say, with Behdad Eghbali willing to meet Villa’s enormous price tag.
The deal sees Rogers become the most expensive British transfer in history, eclipsing the £116m spent by Man City on Elliot Anderson. If the signing of Rogers was not impressive already, Ben Jacobs has news.
READ MORE: World Cup trio to learn their fate under Xabi Alonso as five return to Chelsea
Arsenal not the only side rivalling Chelsea for Morgan Rogers
With Arsenal stalling on a price, Chelsea moved and paid what Villa wanted – more than the fee City received for Anderson. Chelsea will pay the Midlands club a huge up-front total of £117m; no add-ons.
Morgan Rogers of England runs on during the FIFA World Cup
Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images
But it appears that Arsenal were not the only other side looking to sign Rogers. According to Jacobs on TalkSPORT today, Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain were keen, as were Manchester United.
PSG humiliated Chelsea in the Champions League with an 8-2 aggregate win earlier this year, and Man United have not only qualified for the elite competition – but they have also signed Andrey Santos.
If beating Arsenal wasn’t impressive enough, Chelsea have also fended off interest from Michael Carrick’s men and the current Champions League winners. A real coup for BlueCo and Chelsea ahead of 2026-27.
Marquinhos of PSG, Wesley Fofana of Chelsea, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of PSG, Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Jacobs said: “PSG and Man United had shown an interest as well. But in the end, the Chelsea project, the role of Xabi Alonso, also speaking directly to the player, and Eghbali combined to allow Chelsea to move.”
How Chelsea could look after Alonso drops formation hint
Going into pre-season, there has been plenty of chat about which formation Alonso could use as Chelsea manager. He used a 3-4-2-1 system at Leverkusen, which guided the Germans to the Bundesliga title.
Where would this Chelsea team finish? 👀
Chelsea's potential starting XI for 2026/27
But he reverted to a 4-2-3-1 while at Madrid, winning 23 of his 34 matches. On Saturday, Chelsea beat Crawley and used the latter. Rogers was pitched the idea of playing on the left side of Chelsea’s attack.
It allows Cole Palmer to remain in the middle of the attacking trio, with the right-wing role up for grabs. Estevao is fit again, while Geovany Quenda and Pedro Neto will also be trying to convince Alonso.
Joao Pedro is first choice up front and will start against Fulham, should he remain injury-free. That is an attacking quartet that will strike fear into any opposition side, as Chelsea look to get back into Europe.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox