Chelsea strike £117m Morgan Rogers transfer agreement as Arsenal left stunned
Chelsea have hijacked Arsenal’s efforts to sign Morgan Rogers for a club-record fee
Morgan Rogers could be about to sign for Chelsea.(Image: Getty Images)
Chelsea have reached a verbal agreement with Aston Villa to sign Morgan Rogers. football.london understands that Villa have accepted a £117million bid from the Blues, who stolen a march of London rivals Arsenal for his signature.
Rogers has chosen to sign for Chelsea over the Premier League champions with Xabi Alonso instrumental in brokering the deal. The move for the 23-year-old is still being finalised but personal terms are reportedly in place for the attacking midfielder to sign a six-year deal, with the option to a further year.
Rogers is set to undergo a medical on Monday, with the deal coming as a blow to Arsenal who had made the Villa and England star one of their transfer targets. It was claimed on Saturday that the Gunners were growing increasingly confident in signing the former Middlesbrough man after a ‘major breakthrough’ in talks with the North London club.
The deal marks a club-record for the Blues, which would gazump Enzo Fernandez’s £107million move from Benfica in 2023. Uncertainty clouds the future of the Argentina star but Alonso remains intent on keeping him and the level of ambition from the Chelsea hierarchy signals intent for the forthcoming season.
Alonso and the lure of the Stamford Bridge project has been pivotal in swaying his decision. Rogers is currently on international duty with England at the World Cup and could play a part in the Three Lions’ third-place playoff against France on Saturday (10pm kick-off).
He has played an important part in Thomas Tuchel’s side during the North American tournament, featuring in all but one of their seven outings so far. Rogers provided an assist for Anthony Gordon’s opener during Wednesday’s semi-final defeat to Argentina, as the defending champions staged a comeback.
The future of Rogers has been hotly debated going into the summer after playing a pivotal role in Unai Emery’s side as they qualified for the Champions League and ended their wait for European success as they were crowned Europa League champions, following a comprehensive win over Freiburg.
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Speaking during his first press conference, Alonso said: “The way they have, not so long ago, played and competed on the highest level gave me assurance that the potential of the team was there, because of the quality of the players, because of the quality of the way they have played.
“So now it will be the work to carry on many of the things that they’ve done and to know that we come in a very competitive level, the Premier League, but that’s the challenge.
“But I’m sure that with the commitment of everyone, with, for sure, hard work, that’s a must, and with the quality on the decisions that we have to take, for sure, we will be there to enjoy a great season. That’s what we want.
“We know that the success is a consequence of the good work, of the quality decisions, of the good culture that we want to build, and that’s the beauty of such a complex but nice process with so many people involved.
“Always getting the best of everyone, and everyone is committed with the last goal that is being the best we can and giving our best.
“If we all share, day by day, that feeling, I think that we can be optimistic about the future. Tomorrow we start. Tomorrow is day one. We want to feel it. To feel that this is starting something exciting.”
As part of the sale to Aston Villa, Boro reportedly installed a 20 per cent sell-on clause as part of the Premier League move for Rogers. For Arsenal, it leaves them going back to the drawing board in their quest to add reinforcements ahead of the title defence.
The likes of Eli Junior Kroupi, Julian Alvarez and Bradley Barcola have all been named as targets. Mikel Arteta’s side, however, are closing in on a deal to Christos Tzolis in the latest piece of business for their attacking investment.
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