Aston Villa will sign Morgan Rogers as new bid lined up after £10m development
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton remains confident that Aston Villa will complete the January signing of Morgan Rogers, despite Middlesbrough’s reluctance to sell their ‘prized asset”.
Aston Villa have already seen two bids turned down for Rogers, who joined Middlesbrough for just over £1million in the summer, but a third bid is understood to have been submitted to attempt to bring him to Villa Park in January [Mail on Sunday, 21 January]
Reports emerged that Villa will have to raise their offer to £10million this month if they want to secure the 21-year-old’s services as Michael Carrick is desperate to keep the attacking midfielder at the Riverside for the remainder of the campaign [Daily Mirror, 23 January].
While Hutton believes that Boro will hold out for as much money as possible for their star player, he remains confident that Rogers will be playing his football under Unai Emery come the end of the January window.
“Micahel Carrick has spoken really highly of him,” Hutton told Villa News.
“Again, he’s another versatile player who can play in numerous positions, I think he could obviously fit into the way Villa play in that kind of 4-4-2, but it’s like a box and you want that kind of attacking dynamic midfielder.
“He’s done really well, I understand the rejected bids, I don’t know how much they actually were but for a club like Middlesbrough, for a prized asset, you want as much money as possible, so I’m not surprised.
“Do I think Villa will go back in? Yes. It will probably end up getting done unfortunately for Michael Carrick but it is what it is. As long as they get the right money for it, I think it will happen.”
Rogers has played 26 times for Carrick’s Middlesbrough in the Championship this season, with only 14 of those appearances seeing the 21-year-old named in the starting XI, but he has managed to score twice and pick up six assists.
Should he make the switch to Villa Park, the attacking midfielder is expected to provide cover both in his preferred position and for Ollie Watkins as a number nine alongside Jhon Duran.
In other Aston Villa news, Hutton is delighted by one new John McGinn update out of Villa Park this month
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