\n<\/p>\n
Chelsea have completed the \u00a3117million signing of Morgan Rogers, giving Xabi Alonso another versatile attacker to build around alongside Cole Palmer.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rogers has signed a contract until 2033 after Chelsea moved ahead of Arsenal to secure the England international. His conversations with Alonso played a major role in the decision to join the Blues.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old can play on either wing, behind a striker or in central midfield. However, Chelsea are expected to begin with Rogers on the left, allowing Palmer to retain his preferred central role.<\/p>\n The Evening Standard\u2019s assessment of Rogers\u2019 Chelsea role outlined three possible systems available to Alonso.<\/p>\n Rogers spent around 45% of his Premier League minutes on the left for Aston Villa last season.<\/p>\n He does not operate as a traditional winger who remains close to the touchline. Rogers prefers to receive the ball wide before driving inside, attacking the penalty area or creating space for an overlapping full-back.<\/p>\n That role should complement Palmer. Chelsea\u2019s number 10 often moves towards the right half-space, so Rogers can provide a similar threat from the opposite side without competing for the same areas.<\/p>\n ReadChelsea previously examined how Alonso plans to use Rogers alongside Palmer. The left-sided role provides the clearest route to starting both players together.<\/p>\n Alejandro Garnacho\u2019s potential departure would also create space. Aston Villa have submitted an official bid for the winger, while Roma remain interested.<\/p>\n Possible Chelsea XI:<\/strong> S\u00e1nchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fern\u00e1ndez; Stephen, Palmer, Rogers; Jo\u00e3o Pedro.<\/p>\n Alonso could also return to the 3-4-2-1 system he used successfully at Bayer Leverkusen.<\/p>\n Rogers and Palmer would then operate behind a central striker. Both players can receive possession between the lines, carry the ball through pressure and shoot from outside the penalty area.<\/p>\n The partnership would provide greater freedom than a fixed 4-2-3-1. Palmer could move towards the right while Rogers attacks from the left before both arrive centrally around the striker.<\/p>\n Rogers also offers the running power Palmer sometimes lacks. He can make direct runs beyond the defence when Palmer drops deeper to receive possession.<\/p>\n Paul Merson questioned whether Chelsea needed another player who prefers a central role. ReadChelsea covered his concerns over how Rogers and Palmer would fit together.<\/p>\n Alonso\u2019s system can answer that concern. The pair do not need to occupy identical positions, especially when Rogers provides more movement without the ball.<\/p>\n Possible Chelsea XI:<\/strong> S\u00e1nchez; Chalobah, Colwill, Hato; James, Caicedo, Fern\u00e1ndez, Cucurella; Palmer, Rogers; Liam Delap.<\/p>\n Rogers can also play from the right when Alonso rotates Estev\u00e3o or Pedro Neto.<\/p>\n The England international created Anthony Gordon\u2019s goal from that position during the World Cup semi-final against Argentina. He used his strength to beat his marker before delivering across the penalty area.<\/p>\n Rogers is more comfortable attacking from the left, but his versatility will help Chelsea manage a demanding schedule. Estev\u00e3o is returning from a serious hamstring injury, while Neto\u2019s future remains uncertain.<\/p>\n Using Rogers from the right could also allow Palmer to begin centrally and another winger to retain natural width on the left. Alonso would gain a more powerful attacking structure against teams who defend deep.<\/p>\n Chelsea\u2019s official announcement described Rogers as one of the Premier League\u2019s leading young attacking talents after he contributed to 40 goals during 85 league appearances for Villa.<\/p>\n Possible Chelsea XI:<\/strong> S\u00e1nchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fern\u00e1ndez; Rogers, Palmer, Gittens; Jo\u00e3o Pedro.<\/p>\n The left remains Rogers\u2019 most likely starting position. However, his ability to move across the attack gives Alonso several ways to change Chelsea without replacing Palmer.<\/p>\n The \u00a3117million fee creates immediate expectations. Rogers must now turn his versatility into consistent goals and assists at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chelsea have completed the \u00a3117million signing of Morgan Rogers, giving Xabi Alonso another versatile attacker…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Rogers starts from the left<\/h2>\n
Chelsea pair Rogers with Palmer centrally<\/h2>\n
Rogers provides another option from the right<\/h2>\n