Enzo Fernandez
Enzo Fernandez has departed Chelsea for Manchester City(Image: Visionhaus)
View 5 Images
Morgan Rogers will head to the Emirates Stadium this weekend buoyed by his seamless transition at Chelsea.
It could, however, have been so different for Chelsea's club-record signing. Rogers was primed to move to Arsenal, Sunday afternoon's opponents, in the summer transfer window until the Blues gazumped their London rivals to his signature.
Chelsea assembled their version of The Avengers. Paul Winstanley, Laurence Stewart, Joe Shields and Sam Jewell were all involved in making the deal possible for the Blues. The undeniable lure of Xabi Alonso was also called upon, with the Chelsea manager ringing Rogers on the Friday, before an agreement was reached on Saturday.
Sources say that all in all, the deal - where Chelsea ended up paying £117million to Aston Villa - was agreed in around 48 hours. Chelsea did not mess around. Rogers was seen as a key cog in the machine Alonso was looking to build at Stamford Bridge.
FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Many have labelled it an Alonso signing but on Friday, the manager reflected on how it was a collective decision to pursue Rogers.
"We think we had a common agreement that he was the one we wanted because of his present, because of his future, because of his position, because of the needs the team had," Alonso said to football.london after being asked about the process behind the record-breaking deal. "He was the number one target for us."
The former Manchester City academy star was always Chelsea's number one. But for so long, Rogers seemed Arsenal-bound. The Gunners, looking to build on their Premier League title-winning campaign for Mikel Arteta, earmarked Rogers as a prime target for the left-hand side following the departure of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli 's future at the Emirates also in doubt.
Chelsea were willing to bide their time when it came to Rogers. Blues chiefs wanted to scope the situation and carefully observe how negotiations between Villa and Arsenal went down before officially swooping in.
Rogers was seen as someone to help reshape Chelsea's attack. With the uncertainty, at the time, over the future of Enzo Fernandez, there was hope that Rogers could at least replace the Argentine's goals if he was to leave. The Blues had back-to-back 14-goal campaigns to go off while Rogers was at Villa.
Now Fernandez is at Manchester City, there is hope that his goals - the Argentine scored 15 in all competitions last season - won't be missed too much.
Enzo Fernandez
Enzo Fernandez has signed for Manchester City(Image: Man City)
View 5 Images
Arsenal sources insisted any deal for Rogers was reliant on the price. Ultimately, the £117m Chelsea paid for Rogers was out of the Gunners' range.
Morgan Rogers celebrates
Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Fulham(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA)
View 5 Images
Arsenal were looking to upgrade and Rogers fit the bill. Chelsea knew the Gunners were favourites to sign the England international from Aston Villa, but it did not put off the club's board in rolling the dice. What was there to lose?
In the aforementioned phone call with Alonso, the Chelsea manager outlined his plans to Rogers. While there was not one specific position/role promised to the 24-year-old, Alonso told the former Villa man he would be a leading figure in a new-look Chelsea side and Rogers left the phone call excited about the prospect of a move to Stamford Bridge.
The thought of playing with his best mate Cole Palmer was a bonus. Palmer was constantly messaging Rogers all summer-long about the idea of them two spearheading the Blues attack, while also asking for updates.
Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers
Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers are thriving together at Chelsea(Image: Ryan Pierse)
View 5 Images
Rogers, alongside Palmer, has started the season brilliantly. After scoring on his official debut for the west Londoners away at Fulham, the England international followed that up at the weekend with a superb assist in the 4-3 win over Brighton. Rogers left Stamford Bridge purring when he dropped a defender before putting the ball on a plate for Pedro Neto to finish.
That assist would have pleased Alonso arguably more than Rogers' goal six days prior. It is exactly why Chelsea spent such a hefty sum to beat Arsenal to his signature. The fearlessness in attack, his willingness to go at a man, his first thought always being how he can make something happen.
Rogers has even caught Alonso by surprise. The England international has only been training with his new teammates a few weeks after being allowed an extended break following his World Cup exploits with the Three Lions.
Asked by football.london if Rogers' seamless adaptation has shocked him, the manager said: "Probably yes, probably yes because to be honest it has been just probably three weeks.
"It looks like a long time but it is just three weeks since he started playing for Chelsea, training, getting his fitness level and he has had a very good impact. To be honest I hoped that he was going to have a straight impact in the team, with the teammates that he was going to get along so well with because he already knew many of them and we had been talking before.
"So that is why he was such an important target and goal for us to get him and once we got him in the building he fulfilled our expectations and we are happy because he is enjoying it as well."
There has been so much talk - positive talk - about Rogers, Palmer and Joao Pedro. 'JPMorgan', 'CPR' - whatever you want to call it, they are the most feared attacking threesome in the Premier League at the time of writing.
Doing that against the best defence in the league is a different thing. Arsenal will be working on ways to stop the deadly trio and Alonso will be working on how to break down such a stubborn defence.
Morgan Rogers celebrates
Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Real Sociedad(Image: Chelsea FC)
View 5 Images
It promises to be an intriguing tactical battle between two long-term friends in Alonso and Arteta. Going into the weekend, Chelsea had scored more goals than any other team in the English top-flight, while Arsenal are yet to concede.
Something has to give.