Aston Villa have accepted a huge bid from Chelsea for star man Morgan Rogers, with the Blues set to pay £117m.
Rogers is currently with the England squad in Miami for their World Cup third-place play-off clash against France this evening but will have a medical at Stamford Bridge on Monday
The deal is a six-year contract, with a seventh-year option, and new Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso was instrumental in the 23-year-old being happy to make the move to the Blues.
Rogers joined Villa from Middlesbrough in January 2024 and has enjoyed a rapid rise in the two and a half years since, having scored 31 times in 125 appearances to help Unai Emery’s side to three consecutive top-six finishes and the Europa League title this season, as well as becoming a key member of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
He was a key target for Premier League champions Arsenal, with Manchester United and PSG also having expressed interest at points, but the World Cup only delayed an already protracted potential transfer and the Gunners felt unable to commit to a deal.
Villa will need reinforcements after also selling Youri Tielemans to Manchester United for £35m earlier this week but feel the fee represents a good deal.
Their initial preference was obviously be to keep their star but they had no issue with Rogers wanting to move on and the Villa Park hierarchy were content with the strategy of cashing in on him to help replenish the squad and try to bring it to the next level, after a few years of difficulties with financial rules.
During the World Cup, Rogers was asked about being linked with a big-money move away from Villa Park and he was self-deprecating in his response.
“I’m not sure I’m worth all of that!” he said when asked about a reported £130m valuation. “Of course it’s nice to hear that from people.
“But I don’t let outside noise dictate me. I’m just going to keep focused, keep being me, keep being the person that got me here and keep trying to improve. I don’t really listen to stuff like that.”
Rogers is set to become the fourth Chelsea signing of the summer as they overhaul their squad to kick off Alonso’s tenure, following the arrivals of defender Marco Palestra, striker Emmanuel Emegha and winger Geovany Quenda.
