It’s an inexact science but a list of the 40 most valuable players in the Premier League contains only two – very soon to be one – footballers not currently at elite clubs. When Eberechi Eze completes his now-inevitable move to Arsenal, Morgan Rogers will be the last man standing and Aston Villa the only non-elite club – so far – able to resist the gargantuan money and near-irresistible pressure being pushed down through the glass ceiling.
Yes, Villa have sold Jacob Ramsey but £40m for a player not in their starting XI is money impossible to ignore for a club with ongoing PSR woes. The jewel in their crown is Rogers and both Arsenal and Tottenham are eyeing something sparkly. To Spurs he is the ‘dream’ alternative after Eze for that No. 10 role vacated by the injured James Maddison; for Arsenal he is the ready-made successor to Gabriel Martinelli on that problematic left side. To the rest of us he is the last remaining hope that the Premier League top six is not already set after an unprecedented summer of mid-table asset-stripping.
Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford, West Ham and Wolves have all lost key players this summer – with Palace soon to follow – to clubs either in the Champions League or Manchester United, whose transfer lure remains at odds with their 15th-placed finish.
Newcastle United are currently learning the hard way that even qualifying for the Champions League is no insurance against the vultures, while simultaneously heralding the arrival of players from Nottingham Forest, Villa and, if they get their way, Brentford. There is a pecking order and they are currently sitting in seventh with little hope of jumping the queue.
The glimmer of better news for those clinging to the notion that good players can remain at good clubs for longer than seven or eight minutes is that Forest stood in the path of Tottenham with their protective arms around Morgan Gibbs-White, Brighton have made it very clear that Carlos Baleba (undervalued by the transfermarkt algorithms that give us that ‘most valuable’ list) will not leave for less than a Moises Caicedo-sized fee, anda deal to take Rogers to Tottenham has been labelled “almost impossible”.
What we do not yet know is if a deal to take Rogers to Arsenal is also “almost impossible”, or whether £80m is as tempting to Villa as a Premier League title challenge would presumably be to Rogers. And we do not know whether Unai Emery might react to such a sale with a ‘f*** this’; he would be entitled to feel like he has done quite enough swimming through mud with arms tied, thank you very much.
It feels important for the sake of the Premier League’s veil of competitiveness that at least some overtures are resisted. We have already confidently predicted that the Big Six will actually be the top six this season after slapping down any likely interlopers with cash this summer, but we would like to retain a little hope.
And if all else fails, we will get over-invested in Murillo (No. 41) staying at Forest. Save us, Villa.