Morgan Rogers

[steamer]

why would he get a salary bump ?
He has a contract
Increase if signs new contract ?
However we have seen this movie before, with the exception of Barry when liverpool came calling and we held him to his contract

[Dante Lavelli]

He would *want* a salary bump if staying beyond next season I reckon.  It goes with the territory from being a senior member of the squad.

His agent will be fully aware of what is available elsewhere and it's likely to be more than we pay him.  IMO one more year, under the existing arrangement, seems a pragmatic solution whilst all parties are heading in the right direction. 

[ADVILLAFAN]

why would he get a salary bump ?
He has a contract
Increase if signs new contract ?
However we have seen this movie before, with the exception of Barry when liverpool came calling and we held him to his contract

And that was due to Liverpool playing silly buggers. Kept leaking stories to the press that Villa were happy to accept a fiver and a packet of biscuits and we're just thankful to be basking in the glow of Liverpool's greatness.

Man City paid up without these shenanigans.

[Bully2345]

I think we can treat the papers with a fair amount of cynicism but they all seem to be saying it would be around the £80m bracket.

As much as we think it should be £100m+, I wouldn't be shocked if any eventual fee is far closer to the paper talk £80m than £120m

[Chip Butty 111]

I think we need to buckle ourselves in for a bumpy ride. Tuchel clearly rates him to the point he would sacrifice Bellingham if Rogers is on fire, and if that happens at the WC the Sky 6 along with Barca/Real/Bayern/PSG will be on the blower... as our financial predicament is common knowledge and they will be confident of having our trousers down.
The selfish part of me wants Bellingham to start most games and for Rogers to be a bit part player.

[LeeB]

I think we can treat the papers with a fair amount of cynicism but they all seem to be saying it would be around the £80m bracket.

As much as we think it should be £100m+, I wouldn't be shocked if any eventual fee is far closer to the paper talk £80m than £120m

We won't accept that though.

[Monty]

The only reliable 'paper talk' is The Athletic, who said it starts at 100m. 80m is only worth 62m to us, which 0.5 of a Florian Wirtz. If Elliot Anderson is nine figures after one season of pensive, artsy, black-and-white sideways passing*, then Rogers with his personal goal-of-the-season competition is at the very least the same.

*I know, I know, don't @ me.

[Chip Butty 111]

I think we can treat the papers with a fair amount of cynicism but they all seem to be saying it would be around the £80m bracket.

As much as we think it should be £100m+, I wouldn't be shocked if any eventual fee is far closer to the paper talk £80m than £120m

I'd imagine 3/4 clubs would be after him and demand will drive the price over £100M easily. Apart from Spurs who will offer £20M + Josh Onomah

[Rigadon]

I think we can treat the papers with a fair amount of cynicism but they all seem to be saying it would be around the £80m bracket.

As much as we think it should be £100m+, I wouldn't be shocked if any eventual fee is far closer to the paper talk £80m than £120m

We won't accept that though.

Exactly.  The days of Villa bending over are, well, over. 

[Dave]

why would he get a salary bump ?
He has a contract
Increase if signs new contract ?
However we have seen this movie before, with the exception of Barry when liverpool came calling and we held him to his contract

Because players normally end up being paid what somebody is willing to pay them, either by moving to a new, richer club or getting their existing club to match what they might get elsewhere.

Rogers will be very aware of the fact that he's going to the World Cup ahead of, and playing in the position of Phil Foden who is being paid millions of pounds per year more than he is. And that if he (Rogers) were playing for Man City, he'd be paid that amount as well.

And so Rogers and his agent will start to see the market value of his labour as greater than what he is currently being paid for it.

[chrisw1]

This is all correct Dave, but he is on a 5-year contract and is well aware that Villa have transformed his career.  I think if we insist on another season he will suck it up.

But I think we probably want to sell him.  The SCR settlement we agreed with UEFA is brutal:

Football Earnings Targets: Per the official UEFA Settlement Agreement, Villa's maximum permitted Football Earnings deficit is capped at €5 million for the 2025/26 reporting period, dropping to €0 million for 2026/27

Transfer Balance Restrictions: Under the settlement, Villa are required to maintain a balanced "one-in, one-out" transfer ecosystem. To register any high-profile new players for European competitions, the club must offset squad costs directly through player sales to maintain a positive transfer balance.

The "List A" Transfer Balance RuleUnder the Sporting Disciplinary Measures of their 3-year deal, Villa cannot register any new players on their UEFA "List A" squad for European competition unless the List A Transfer Balance is positive.UEFA defines this specific balance as the mathematical difference between two factors:Cost Savings: The money cleared from the wage bill and amortised transfer costs of outgoing players.New Costs: The combined player salaries, agent fees, and amortised transfer fees of incoming signings.To register a marquee player in the 2026/27 Champions League league phase, the "New Costs" of that individual must be completely offset by the "Cost Savings" of departed squad members

So, to play any new players in Europe, we need to create the headroom through sales, notwithstanding our increased income.  I'm not quite sure how we ended up with such a punitive agreement, it's almost as if the game wants to stifle any serious challengers to the established elite.

[Dave]

The above though is dependent on how our financial position was last year.

https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/029b-1e280b615680-700e46bcfcfa-1000/aston_villa_summary_version_3-year_sa_20250704174251.pdf

Sporting Disciplinary Measures

• The Club agrees to be subject to a sporting restriction and, as a consequence, may not
register any new player on its List A to UEFA club competitions unless the List A Transfer
Balance is positive.
• The List A Transfer Balance is defined as the difference between the cost savings from
outgoing players (“Cost savings”) and the new costs from incoming players (“New costs”) at
any applicable deadline for the Club’s submission of its List A.
• The sporting restriction is foreseen as follows:
• It unconditionally applies in the 2025/26 season;
• It conditionally applies in the 2026/27 season, if the Club has a Football Earnings
deficit in the reporting period 2025;
• It conditionally applies in the 2027/28 season, if the Club exceeds the 2026 Target;
and
• It conditionally applies in the 2028/29 season if the Club exceeds the Final Target
by less than EUR 20 million

Do we know for sure that we had a "Football Earnings deficit" in 2025, which would be the year in which we sold Duran, received pots of Champions League money etc?

If we have then we're obviously screwed - not just this summer but for all the years to come as we can't rely on selling a precocious striker and getting to the Champions League quarter-final every season just to keep the lights on.

But my (uneducated) reading is that we probably didn't have a "Football Earnings deficit" in 2025 (we may well in 2026 due to not selling Duran or having a Champions League run), and as a result we're probably good to go this summer - while still needing to make sure we don't go over the maximum €60m deficit mentioned in the "Final and Intermediate Targets" bit.

[chrisw1]

I hope you're right Dave.  I'm surprised there's so little clarity on this stuff.

[AV82EC]

But Chris we know all this it’s not new news and yes the rules are set up to not upset an established cartel. If we sell, we sell and we move forwards. Continually moaning about it isn’t a good use of your or anyone else’s brain space despite the unfairness. We’re starting to break the cartel, improved Matchday, TV and commercial are all happening, yes probably not quick enough to keep up with what Unai is delivering in terms of performance but to get where we need to get to player trading is the part of the equation of improving our SCR. Just like with the Grealish situation we may need to sell but it may help us to take another step forwards. Can I add here I don’t particularly like it either but if ultimately it’s for the “greater good” maybe we need to just go with it. Spurs didn’t get where they got to by being shy of player trading through 2005 to 2020. It ultimately enabled them to keep Kane, Son etc by trading away players like Carrick, Modric, Bale etc etc.