Aston Villa ‘open talks’ with 14-goal star amid strong interest from rivals Chelsea for his signature
The England international’s early season performances have been the subject of immense criticism
Aston Villa are reportedly in discussions with Morgan Rogers over a bumper new contract despite his lacklustre start to the new campaign.
Rogers joined Villa from Middlesbrough in January 2024 and in his first six months formed part of the team that finished fourth in the Premier League, ending a 31-year wait for Champions League qualification. The youngster showed plenty of promise in his first six months but took his game to another level in his first full season, scoring 14 and assisting 16 across all competitions as Villa finished sixth, all while reaching the quarter-final stage of the Champions League and the semi-final of the FA Cup.
Rogers was awarded for his heroics with the PFA Young Player of the Season award and also established himself as a regular international, picking up eight caps under Thomas Tuchel during the early months of his England tenure.
Aston Villa offer Morgan Rogers fresh contract
According to Football Insider, Aston Villa are keen to reward Morgan Rogers for his contribution to the club’s success so far by offering him a new deal. They see the 23-year-old as a crucial part of their plans moving forward and are desperately trying to fend off interest from other clubs in the division such as Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.Both can offer the player Champions League football at this moment in time, but Villa are keen to convince him that the best place for his future is in the West Midlands.
Villa rebuffed interest for their midfield playmaker during the summer despite concerns surrounding the club’s PSR situation. Reports stated earlier in the year that they’d set a valuation of around £80m to price any clubs out of a deal for the youngster.
Rogers is currently under contract with Aston Villa until 2030, meaning the club are already in a strong position in terms of negotiations. He last signed a contract extension in November but is now likely to be offered improved terms to put a halt to speculation surrounding his commitment to the club.
What does the future hold for Morgan Rogers?
Morgan Rogers is currently experiencing the most difficult patch of form in his Aston Villa career. He’s yet to score or assist across all competitions this season and is currently a part of an underperforming team that are winless in five league matches with three draws, two defeats and just one goal scored. Villa did, however, get their Europa League campaign off to a good start by beating Bologna 1-0 through an excellent John McGinn strike.
But that didn’t stop fans criticising Rogers for his output during the match against the Italians. In total, Rogers was dispossessed on six occasions on his Europa League debut and merely 10 of his 24 attempted passes were accurate. To make matters worse, he only won four of his 13 ground duels. His performance went so bad that some sections of the fanbase even began to express their dissatisfaction though there were loud sarcastic cheers from all around the stadium when he completed a relatively simple pass late on in the game. That moment, very harsh indeed, rather summed up his evening.
“The fans, they have to show their emotions, and we have to accept it,” Emery told Birmingham World. “Sometimes we are successful and sometimes we are not, and sometimes they are proud of us and sometimes not. But we have to be there always, ready to accept it. Morgan, he’s young. He needs time as well to get more experiences. Today I kept him on the field for 90 minutes because I wanted his reaction, how he was accepting everything happened on the field, and he did it.
“He didn’t play well and didn’t be clinical in the attacking third to do the last assist, but I wanted to keep him firstly because, he’s always doing his task, he’s always working for the team, he’s always working fantastic. But he was not today being clinical offensively. He needs to take experiences like today, not playing very well, the crowd as well not being happy with him and he has to get these experiences and grow up through it.”
Rogers has the chance to make amends when he faces Fulham in the next Premier League clash.