The position Chelsea pitched to Morgan Rogers that solves Xabi Alonso headache

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£117m out of absolutely nowhere!

Rogers is set to join Chelsea and Palmer in a British record transfer, worth £1m more than the fee paid by Man City to sign Elliot Anderson. Rogers will put pen to paper on a six-year deal, with a 2033 option.

Those headaches now become real. Palmer remains indispensable to Alonso’s side, and yet, after a poor year by his standards, he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad; Rogers was chosen instead.

The position Chelsea pitched to Morgan Rogers in transfer talks

So, how will Xabi Alonso combine the two players? Well, according to Ben Jacobs, Chelsea actually pitched the idea of Rogers playing as a left-sided winger to the Aston Villa star during negotiations.

Indeed, Alonso is said to have spoken to Rogers personally in a bid to fend off interest from Arsenal, while Behdad Eghbali led the talks with Aston Villa over a fee. A deal sees Middlesbrough earn a big amount.

It sees Alonso and Chelsea solve what looked like a problem position going into the new season, with Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho struggling to show why Chelsea spent £95m on them in 2025.

Jacobs reported on X: “Understand Chelsea pitched to Morgan Rogers as a left-wing starter. Rogers equally comfortable and impressive as a number ten, and his versatility part of the appeal to Chelsea.

“But told he is joining under the impression he’ll play on the left, and alongside Cole Palmer. Along with Xabi Alonso, Behdad Eghbali played a key role in convincing Rogers to join,” Jacobs added in his post.

What does Morgan Rogers news mean for Chelsea’s wingers?

Currently, Chelsea have five senior wingers at the club. Pedro Neto remains the most senior, while Estevao and new signing Geovany Quenda provide three options for Alonso on the right of his Chelsea attack.

DISCUSS: In this current market, Rogers is a bargain 👀

On the left, Gittens and Garnacho – with Jesse Derry going out on loan to Sporting. Dastan Satpayev is still incredibly young, and the chances are that the young Kazakhstan talent goes on loan to Strasbourg.

But six wingers, with the addition of Rogers on the left, leaves Alonso with too many options going into a season without European football. A decision will have to be made, and at least one, possibly two, will go.

Garnacho is yet to return to training, with Roma pushing hard to sign the Argentine. Gittens scored in the 3-1 win over Crawley on Saturday and is likely to remain, but Neto’s future does remain under scrutiny.