The latest on Morgan Rogers’ future as Tottenham Hotspur join Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in showing an interest.
Aston Villa are planning to offer star attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers a new contract amid intense transfer interest from a host of Premier League rivals.
The Villans insist Rogers is not for sale this summer and Unai Emery wants to reward the 23-year-old with improved terms. Rogers only signed a new long-term contract back in November, keeping him at the club until June 2030, but Birmingham World understands Villa want to reflect his importance by making him one of the highest earners in the squad.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all been linked with Rogers in this transfer window, while Tottenham Hotspur have emerged as another potential suitor. But the England international won’t be going anywhere this summer, regardless of whether he puts pen to paper on a new deal, as it’s understood he’s strictly unsellable.
There’s good reason for Villa’s reluctance to let Rogers go. Last campaign, the forward scored eight goals and provided 11 assists in 37 Premier League games, while he added another six goals and five assists in the Champions League and FA Cup. There also aren’t many players in the Premier League as good as Rogers at driving forward with the ball on the transition. That’s vital to Emery’s philosophy.
Newcastle United to announce Jacob Ramsey arrival
Ahead of getting talks properly get underway with Rogers, Villa have been focusing on sanctioning two significant sales. As Villa still have work to do to meet UEFA’s squad cost rules (SCR) and football earnings rules, a promise has been made to sell players before the end of the window.
In the background, Villa are understood to be working on a deal to bring Marco Asensio back to the club. Discussions have been held with Paris Saint-Germain over either another loan or a permanent transfer. Asensio, who has just 10 months left on his PSG contract, scored eight goals in 21 appearances for Villa during the second half of last campaign.
How Asensio return impacts Rogers output
There have been some concerns raised among the Villa Park faithful that Asensio’s return could harm Morgan Rogers’ output. Emery preferred Asensio in the number 10 role last term and that meant Rogers was deployed a little deeper, out on the right flank. As Rogers is often at his best when driving through central areas, his attacking form dwindled when Asensio was called into the starting lineup.
Rogers’ goals certainly dry up when he plays out wide instead of through the middle as he has scored just once in 16 outings on the right wing. When playing centrally, Rogers has scored six goals in 23 games. Rather interestingly, though, Rogers’ creative output is better when he’s on the right as he has notched eight assists in that role compared to just three when deployed as a number 10.
The likeliest contributing factor to this trend is Rogers’ preference to shift the ball to his favoured right foot. If he’s on the right wing, he tends to drift in but then back out again to cross or cut the ball back with his stronger foot. When he’s central, he has a better angle to attack with his right and he finds himself in better positions to shoot.
One way Emery could strike a balance while keeping Asensio as the number 10 is by moving Rogers to the left wing. Jacob Ramsey has been heavily linked with a transfer away to the likes of Newcastle United or West Ham United, so Rogers could fill that void. When playing on the left, Rogers has been at his most clinical, scoring four goals and making one assist in nine matches. That’s of course a smaller sample size, but it’s a strong indicator that he’d succeed.
New signing Evann Guessand, brought in for £30 million after add-ons, often played as a right forward for Nice last campaign, so he could take on that role. Then there are Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey, alternatives Emery could call upon.
Continue Reading