Aston Villa could end the season with silverware and a ticket into the Champions League, but to do so, Unai Emery's side will need to play with some of the gusto that defined the first half of the 2025/26 season.
And they will need Morgan Rogers to be on his A-game. Having scored ten goals and supplied seven assists across the season, the England international has been one of the stars of the show once again at Villa Park.
Aston Villa winger Morgan Rogers
He's one of the sharpest attacking midfielders in Europe, but clubs are taking note, and Rogers appears to be interested in exploring his options in the summer transfer market.
The latest on Rogers' Aston Villa future
Rogers, 23, might be itching for a move away from Aston Villa, but he's contracted to the club until 2031, so any deal away is going to come at a staggering, record-breaking sum. If at all.
But interest is mounting, and Caught Offside have confirmed reports that Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all registering their names after Rogers has shown that he is looking to move away during the summer transfer window.
Whether he will succeed on that front is another question entirely, with Villa set to demand £100m for their talisman.
Morgan Rogers' Premier League Form
Stats (per 90)
Matches (starts)
Goals + Assists
Touches*
Shots (on target)*
Accurate passes*
Big chances created
Key passes*
Succ. dribbles*
Ball recoveries*
Tackles*
Duels won*
He's been fantastic over the past few years at Villa Park, and if he is going to leave, it will only be for a fee of the same kind as Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish in 2021.
And while this would be a big blow, the powers that be at NSWE surely have an adequate replacement in their sights after banking a nine-digit cheque. Moreover, the Villans have a versatile forward currently out on loan who could fill a Rogers-shaped hole.
Aston Villa already have the perfect Rogers replacement
While the likes of Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho currently play under Emery's wing at Aston Villa, neither are expected to be at the club next season, and a high-profile replacement will need to be signed.
But Rogers is a unique player, and he may need more than one successor to fill his boots. Aston Villa may have the perfect player out on loan in Evann Guessand.
evann-guessand-aston-villa-premier-league
When the Villans signed Guessand from OGC Nice forward Guessand for £30m last summer, he arrived with a weight of expectation. However, the 24-year-old failed to deliver across the early months of the season, unable to break his duck in the Premier League.
However, he is a player blessed with much flair and dynamism in attack. His close control, technical skill and creativity suggest that he could help succeed Rogers, preferably out on the right but also featuring prominently on the other flank and in a central attacking position across his career.
This isn't revisionism, because there's no hiding from the fact that Guessand left a lot to be desired during his brief spell in Emery's set-up, but nonetheless, his form for Crystal Palace has been a marked improvement, at the heart of their Conference League campaign and prominent in the Premier League too, scoring the winner against Wolves in February.
Guessand does have the potential to provide more. The Athletic's Alex Barker has remarked that he has the "Bruno Fernandes-esque drive to unpredictably create high-quality chances."
With Ollie Watkins largely flattering to deceive this season by his lofty standards, Guessand could help spark a new kind of attacking fluency next term, even if Rogers is sold.
Crystal Palace's Evann Guessand celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates
He's had a slow start to life in English football, but Guessand has made gains at Selhurst Park, and if Villa invest time and faith into his skills, he might just show himself to be a creative force to be reckoned with across attacking positions.
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