Morgan Rogers has been told that he can become one of the best in the world by the man he inadvertently helped replace at Aston Villa.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the last two years as his club manager, Unai Emery, faces a fight to hold onto his top-rated asset.
7
But neither is a surprise to two of his former teammates, who waxed lyrical about Rogers during a chat with eSPORTY.com at Udinese’s international media days event.
Jordan Zemura linked up with the attacking midfielder on only the second of his three loans away from Manchester City.
Rogers joined Zemura at Bournemouth in August 2021, but returned to the Etihad five months later after making just one Championship start.
“He was young, though”, Udinese star Zemura, said, defending the 12-cap England international. “Morgan, at the time, was like 19.
“But finishing was unbelievable, like left foot, right foot.
“I always used to say that he’s got like a crazy catalogue of finishing, in terms of either smashing it or finessing it.
“But as soon as it clicked, like I just knew that, yeah, ‘You’re going to do well for yourself, man!'”
Rogers sealed a permanent switch to the Championship with Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough in July 2023 for a paltry £1.1m from Man City.
A month later, his future club, Villa, were celebrating a similar coup of their own with the loan arrival of Nicolo Zaniolo from Galatasaray.
Their futures became intertwined that winter, when the Italian began to fall out of favour under Emery as Rogers hit a purple patch.
7
Rogers can become ‘one of the best in the world’
Rogers registered two assists and scored one goal in the four games prior to Boro’s 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa in January, 2024.
He impressed in that meeting and assisted in his next two Championship games to convince Emery to make a move.
Zaniolo explained to eSPORTY: “I remember we played against them in the FA Cup, and Morgan played in Middlesbrough.
“He was an amazing player at that time, and when I see him train with me, I understand this quality from the first moment I see him.
“I think he’s one of the best players in England right now, and if he continues like this, he can become one of the best in the world.”
7
Rogers became the first Englishman Emery had signed across his 20-year career in the dugout at Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and in Spain, despite spending more than €1billion on over 150 players.
Such has been his success that he has since been followed to Villa by the likes of Ross Barkley, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Harvey Elliott, Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene, and Tammy Abraham.
The latter also played with Zaniolo in Italy, who argued that England’s attacking depth, which allowed them to omit Abraham and Ollie Watkins from Tuchel’s most recent squad, is among the reasons the Three Lions are one of the World Cup favourites this summer.
“England have a very, very, very strong team,” Udinese’s No.10 added to eSPORTY. “They have in front, [Jude] Bellingham, they have [Harry] Kane, [Bukayo] Saka, [Phil] Foden.
“I think in the World Cup is one of the favourites to play, to win the World Cup, yes.
“Thomas Tuchel is a world-class manager, and also the quality in England is so high, and I think if they show their quality, they can be one of the best teams in the world right now.”
7
7
Rogers transfer latest
Rogers, who boasts eight goals and five assists in the Premier League this season, can push his value through the roof at the World Cup.
The attacking midfielder only signed a bumper new six-year contract at Villa Park in November.
However, eSPORTY understands several top clubs retain a strong interest in signing him, although Villa are likely to demand north of the £100million they sold Jack Grealish for in 2021.
eSPORTY’s Alex Crook and Gabby Agbonlahor recently claimed that Villa must qualify for the Champions League, or risk losing Rogers.
7
7
“Well, ironically, Chelsea are one of the clubs who are very keen on Morgan Rogers,” Crooky told White & Jordan earlier this month.
“I wrote an article on the eSPORTY website talking about Liverpool as well because he played under Richard Hughes, their sporting director at Bournemouth.
“And I know Villa legend Gabby Agbonlahor fears that if they don’t get in the Champions League, then not only will Unai Emery walk out the door, they could lose Morgan Rogers.
“If the latter is to happen, I think you’re talking about a fee in excess of what Aston Villa got for Jack Grealish.
“I think they would want more than £100 million.”
