MORGAN ROGERS tonight bids to drive Aston Villa towards the Champions League last eight.
The midfielder, 22, has been the outstanding star in Unai Emery’s side this season and looks nailed on to be in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad a week on Friday.
It has been a remarkable rise from being a Manchester City cast-off and only joining Villa from Middlesbrough in January 2024.
In this SunSport exclusive, we chart Rogers’ early career as key figures behind his emergence tell the story of his stunning arrival as one of the Prem’s top stars…
WEST BROM
DARREN MOORE — coached West Brom Under-18s when Tony Pulis was manager and became first-team boss in April 2018.
“It’s no surprise at all to see what Morgan’s doing.
“He was an outstanding young player, somebody with undoubted ability and wonderful vision.
“And the bit he’s now added to his game is his temperament and real desire. He’s really bringing some leadership qualities into his game and it’s almost he’s getting matches now by the scruff of the neck and really dictating in the game.
“He’s doing magnificently for his club and there’s no doubt he can also operate at international level.
“When I left West Brom, I got invited to Manchester City. And when I got there and I was watching the first team work, I was asked a question about Morgan.
“So he’d been head-hunted by Man City and they were drawing a little bit of insight from myself as I’d been working with him.
“I had no doubts about him, and I knew what they thought of him then.
“The only thing about when he played for Man City was the timing.
“He had the ability then but he had to go away to find his feet a little bit and then come back (he spent time on loan at Lincoln, Bournemouth and Blackpool).
“But when I looked back at what was said to me at the time, they had no doubt he’d play — and I’m sure all they probably had to do was just be a bit more patient with him.
“And I’m sure what he’s doing now at Aston Villa, he’d been doing for them.
“But, at the time, he should have gone (to City) but, like everything, you have to think about where you are at your time in life.
“Suddenly, it was the training and probably just stepping into that big environment.
“He just had to mature a little bit more — but that ability has always been there.
“But what is clear is there’s more to come. It’s a complete joy to see him do what he’s doing.
“When I first saw him at West Brom, I knew there was something special there.
“The way he moved, the way he kept the ball away from danger and from opponents, the passes, the goals he was scoring and, of course, he had a good size then.
“He’s put on real size and bulk since and he looks really strong now but his spatial awareness is fantastic.
“So when you look at that, it’s almost like the complete player really. At the age he is, he’s come on in leaps and bounds.”
MANCHESTER CITY
PEP GUARDIOLA — Rogers signed for City aged 17 but could not break through.
“Sometimes when players arrive, they are two, three years younger and at that moment there was Kevin De Bruyne in his prime, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling and it’s difficult.
“That’s the only reason why Rogers did not get a chance.
“In the situation we are in right now, of course these kinds of players would be with us. This is obvious.
“I’m happy for him because he’s a lovely guy. He exploded last season and this season he’s a really, really top-class player. England have another exceptional player.”
LINCOLN CITY
JEZ GEORGE — Lincoln sporting director signed Rogers on loan from Manchester City in January 2021.
“He was at West Brom and played against us in the FA Youth Cup. We had five players hanging off him at one point but our lads could not get near him. From then on, we kept a close eye on him.
“After he went to Manchester City, we tried to get him on loan in the summer of 2020 as we already had Brennan Johnson on loan. City would not let him out and though he was only 18, we could see how clever he was and he had all this pace and power, so we knew he would be brilliant.
“Michael Appleton, our manager at the time, also knew him from West Brom and we got him on loan in the January.
“The lad was real class. He was on massive money at a young age but you would never have guessed it.
“It was post-Covid, we were in League One getting changed in a marquee at a training ground and it was all quite rough. But despite coming from Man City, Morgan fitted in so well and was very popular in the dressing room.
“We got close to the Championship although we did have Brennan on one wing and Morgan on the other.
“We knew that if we lost the play-off final to Blackpool we would lose him. Had we won promotion to the Championship, we would have got him for another season.
“He has had bumps in the road, like Bournemouth where he hardly played. But he had the resilience to get through it.
“I knew he would fly again after taking a couple of paces back.”
BOURNEMOUTH
SIMON FRANCIS — a former defender and now the assistant first-team technical director.
Rogers joined on loan in August 2021 but returned to City in the January after making just one Championship start.
“It was pretty clear and simple as to why he struggled to make an impact.
“I’m not sure if he has spoken about Bournemouth but I think he’d be the first to admit that he didn’t arrive with enough intensity in his work, with his attitude.
“But, ultimately, the reason we signed him was because we knew the player and the potential he has. He’s gone on to fulfil that potential. Unfortunately, it wasn’t with us.
“There’s also another example with Leif Davis.
“The recruitment department, which I was a part of with Richard Hughes at the time, identified Leif and Morgan as a really exciting left-sided partnership that could flourish in the Championship.
“Morgan and Leif arrived quite late into pre-season because of the transfer window and getting the loan deal over the line.
“Jordan Zemura and Jaidon Anthony had already struck up a great partnership on the left side.
“Leif and Morgan didn’t play anywhere near as many games as they would have liked, perhaps as many as we would have liked them to.
“Obviously when you have loan players you want them to get exposure. It wasn’t to be for Morgan. He had ridiculous potential — then he went on to Middlesbrough, performed really well there, got regular game-time and got his move to Aston Villa.
“There wasn’t anything dramatic in it, it was just that lack of opportunity he had because that left side had done so well in that promotion-winning season.”
BLACKPOOL
MICK McCARTHY — former Tangerines manager.
“I inherited Morgan as he arrived at Blackpool on loan a couple of weeks before I took over in January 2023.
“When I was in charge of Cardiff, I went to watch him play for Lincoln at Oxford. But after starting well, he drifted out of the game so I decided not to pursue him.
“But when I started working with him, I could see what an amazing talent he was and also an outgoing, gregarious character in the dressing room.
“He played on the left and came in with his right foot — but in one match, I played him as a centre-forward and he was brilliant. The best performance in my short time at the club.
“I thought up front, he was more involved and he held the ball well. Now he plays as a No 10 and he is also effective.
“The problem is that when he started on the left, I felt he was not involved enough. He is powerful, has a wonderful touch and it was good to see him do well at Middlesbrough.
“We were a team spiralling downwards in the Championship so Blackpool was probably not the best place for him.
“But it looks as though he has learnt from his good and bad spells and, most importantly, it is vital he is playing down the middle.”
MIDDLESBROUGH
KIERAN SCOTT — the club’s head of football signed Rogers from City for £1.1million in the summer of 2023.
He sold him seven months later to Aston Villa for an initial £8m rising to £17.5m.
“I was working at Norwich and I looked to try to do something there a couple of times but Man City weren’t ready to sell him.
“When he was on loan at Blackpool, I thought we could buy him. We phoned up Man City. I spoke to Brian Marwood and we came to an agreement where we managed to sign him for £1.1m. There was a decent sell-on, not ridiculous.
“I was absolutely delighted. I could see he had England potential because I don’t know many boys like him that, at 6ft 2in, and can play off both feet.
“We took a gamble at Middlesbrough that we could get him going and get it out of him. When he first came in he didn’t play week in, week out. He was off the pace and was in and out of the team.
“The bit that not many people know is that when Morgan found his purple patch, we had been drawn against Villa in the FA Cup.
“So, obviously, Unai Emery and his team would track back four or five games to get an idea of how we play, what we do and who we are.
“Monchi, Villa’s sporting director, told me that’s when he’d caught Unai’s eye in the build-up.
“That’s how it all came about. We played against them, he did well and went on a real run of form.
“That’s when he started scoring and assisting and it made Villa’s mind up — they were coming for him.
“They timed it great and, fair play to them, they were brave and did it. I have to give them credit for that.
“I’m not actually that surprised how he’s kicked on.
“It’s just maybe the speed of it. A few people have said to me, ‘Surely, you’re a bit gutted now with the amount of money you’ve got for him?’.
“But we’re not actually, because it ended up being £17.5m as a deal.
“That’s where it tops out at and I don’t think we’re too far away from him being at that already, to be honest. There’s another couple of million quid’s worth of add-ons and we’re there.”
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