Chelsea are planning to launch a bid for Aston Villa attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers this summer, but the 23-year-old has been told he could regret leaving the Midlands for Stamford Bridge.
Rogers has been nothing short of sensational for Villa this season, with eight goals and five assists in 31 Premier League appearances so far. He is a key reason why the club sit fourth in the table.
The playmaker has also cemented his spot in Thomas Tuchel’s England team and looks set to play a leading role at the World Cup this year, barring any injury.
Rogers’ form hasn’t gone unnoticed, and our friends at TEAMtalk have revealed that Chelsea are ‘preparing a major summer push to sign him.’
Chelsea’s co-director of recruitment and talent, Joe Shields, is a long-time admirer of Rogers’ talents and is leading the Blues’ drive to bring the Villa star to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are ‘ready to accelerate their interest and formalise their pursuit’ with a summer bid.
But the Blues are expected to face competition, with both Arsenal and Liverpool also tracking Rogers closely. Their interest is not as advanced as Chelsea’s at this stage, however, per TEAMtalk’s report.
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It’s noted that it would take over £100million to lure Rogers from Villa this summer – higher than their current club-record sale which was set by Jack Grealish’s move to Manchester City in 2021.
However, former England star Chris Waddle believes the Villa star should NOT be going anywhere this summer.
Speaking in an interview with FootballTransfers, Waddle said: “I’m a big fan of Rogers. His work rate is good as well and he’s always available. He’s played so much football.
“Every time you see Villa, he’s playing. They rest Ollie Watkins, they rest Jadon Sancho, they rest John McGinn, but he just seems to play every game.
“And I don’t know if that’s going to work out of his favour at the World Cup, as he could be running out of legs by that time.
“He’s signed a new long-term deal, so if people are interested in Morgan Rogers, it’s going to cost them an awful lot of money and he looks very happy and content at Villa.”
Waddle insists that Rogers will have every chance of winning trophies with Villa, and doesn’t need to leave to achieve success.
“Villa are still going the right way, they’re still pushing for the Champions League, they’ve got a chance of winning trophies, but as we’ve seen with many clubs over the years, sometimes they may think: ‘We’ve ran out of money, we need more money,’ so they sell their best player,” he continued.
“But at the minute, I don’t see any reason why he needs to leave. He’s got a good manager, a great team, he’s playing well and he should be the player behind Harry Kane [for England] for me.”
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