From The Athletic
THE RISE OF MORGAN ROGERS: FROM CHAMPIONSHIP LOANS TO ONE OF EUROPE’S BEST No 10s
by Jacob Tanswell
“When we go into games, no one is worrying about me,” Morgan Rogers told reporters at an England camp earlier this year.
Rogers was being self-effacing. He spoke with a grin which suggested as much. Yet, quite frankly, what he said could not have been further from the truth.
His evolution during just under two years with Aston Villa has been staggering. The 23-year-old is one of the Premier League’s most enthralling, threatening attackers. Equally, Rogers is a curiosity. Not just because of his unique physical attributes and technical profile, but because of his largely unforeseen development.
He hardly tore up trees during his admittedly short stay at previous club Middlesbrough in Championship, nor across his three loans away from Manchester City (at Lincoln City and two more Championship sides in Bournemouth and Blackpool) as a youngster, but steady progress suddenly became spectacular.
Though coaches who had previously worked with Rogers insisted he was better than what he had shown, the rate of development at Villa has been extraordinary. He has transformed into their biggest asset, with three contracts in two years encapsulating the rapid rise.
To Villa’s credit, manager Unai Emery and other staff held Rogers in high esteem. Their academy director Mark Harrison helped identify Rogers when he joined West Bromwich Albion’s youth programme alongside Steve Hopcroft, Villa’s head of academy talent identification, who was also at The Hawthorns then. Even at age 11, Rogers was regarded as the jewel in Albion’s academy, with coaches speaking about how he would one day play in the Champions League.
Harrison and Hopcroft viewed him as the most talented academy player they had worked with, capable of performing in any of the front six positions. Harrison pushed Villa to sign Rogers twice before Emery became enamoured with him. Other staff who had not assessed the now England international as intricately, or had not worked with him, were more sceptical.
Villa players learnt of Emery’s fondness during analysis sessions before an FA Cup meeting with Middlesbrough in January 2024. The manager outlined his threat, having increased his interest in a player he, preceding that, had scant knowledge of. Harrison and Hopcroft’s extensive understanding of Rogers, both as a character and player, shaped Emery’s view of how he could mould him.
Preparation for that FA Cup tie largely centred on how Villa could stop Rogers. Following their 1-0 victory on Teesside, future team-mates approached Rogers, informing him of Emery’s admiration. The club’s approach to sign him arrived the next day.
Once Emery outlined his wishes for sporting director Monchi and director of football operations Damian Vidagany to pursue a transfer, the club were all-in. Observers close to Rogers and Villa, recall a neat, perhaps apocryphal tale from that January, when the Premier League side initially made contact with Middlesbrough.
The story goes that Monchi rang them up, simply stating that Villa wanted to sign their best player.
“Who? Hayden Hackney?” was the Middlesbrough response.
What makes Rogers’ rise so noteworthy is that it could have been so different. His raw qualities were always there: two-footed, 6ft 2in (188cm) tall and with exquisite ball control.
Several managers provided him with a platform. He sometimes played as a No 9 for Lincoln and Blackpool during those loans from Manchester City. Prior to what was initially meant to be a season with Bournemouth being cut short in January 2022, he would also be deployed at wing-back.
Few managers, if any, other than Emery could have used Rogers’ skill set so perfectly. The Villa manager saw a proficient ball carrier who was multi-functional — other coaches retain the view that Rogers can play anywhere from central midfield to up front, provided he is put in positions which harness his best attributes.
Together, a bond was forged.
Emery is a taskmaster but, along with defender Pau Torres, Rogers is among his favourites in the Villa squad. The Spaniard has helped Rogers gain England recognition and be in contention to start for them at the World Cup later this year in the keenly-contested No 10 role.
Now among Villa’s top earners, Rogers’ latest contract extension was a reward for form and reputation within their squad. At the start of this season, first-team figures at the club admitted to a reliance on Rogers and Ollie Watkins in attack. With the latter scoring just three goals before Christmas, the burden on his fellow England international was even greater.
Rogers appeared weighed down initially, but Emery did not blink. Even when the player was cheered ironically after finally making a successful pass against Bologna in the Europa League in September, he kept him on the pitch, insisting Rogers was mentally robust enough to withstand the downturn in form he was experiencing.
Current totals of seven league goals and four assists suggest those early-season tribulations have been vanquished. In some ways, Rogers’ form is emblematic of Villa’s broader transformation into title contenders.
That new deal runs until the end of the 2030-31 campaign, though interest from Europe’s biggest clubs, in England and overseas, remains firm. Chelsea are long-standing admirers, though their interest has cooled since he signed that latest contract.
Chelsea may have a glut of attackers in their senior squad but they can’t call on anyone like Rogers. Only Villa can. The City academy graduate is compelling on the eye and unique in his profile. There is nothing more striking than a powerful dribbler in full flow, chewing up ground, fighting off defenders and hurtling towards goal.
Before Villa’s trip to Stamford Bridge on December 27, Rogers had scored six goals from distance in the previous 10 league matches. He has started to add thunderous ball-striking to his powerful surges, with no other English player being directly involved in more goals of that type.
“As a fellow attacking midfielder, Morgan Rogers is a player I like to watch and he’s been in really good form,” Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard wrote in his programme notes before Villa’s visit to the Emirates last month. “Morgan has been really good this season but also last season I thought he did well, too. He’s a top player.”
When he was enduring the tough patch, Rogers confided in those close to him that his end-product was well below his own standards. Intriguingly, he referenced the need to go for goal more in the final third. Since that September game against Bologna, data indicates Rogers has nearly doubled his shooting volume per match.
Rogers, who is from a family of football enthusiasts, was a keen watcher of Villa team-mate Jadon Sancho when he was at Borussia Dortmund and admires other No 10s, including Germany duo Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich) and Florian Wirtz (Liverpool).
He will, if he isn’t already, be one of Europe’s premium attacking midfielders, and is possibly only just scratching the surface of his talents.
