Why didn't Manchester City appreciate Morgan Rogers' talent.
On the 1st (Korea time), soccer statistics media Transfer Markt highlighted the 10 players whose ransom rose the most in 2024. Starting with Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Pau Kubarsi (Barcelona), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) and Kobe Mainu (Manchester United) were among the five notable players.
Rogers, an English national born in 2002, is a promising player who has grown up in Albion, West Bromwich, which once belonged to the English Premier League (EPL). In the summer of 2019, Manchester City evaluated Rogers' talent as outstanding and brought him for 4.4 million euros (about 6.7 billion won). Even if Rodgers is a promising prospect, Manchester City has invested a lot of money because he has not shown anything on the adult stage yet.
Rodgers, who grew up for two years with Manchester City's U-23 team, started on loan in 2021. He continued to move around on loan from the English League 1 (third division) to the English Championship (second division). Rodgers had his own performance in the third division, but failed to display his talent in the second division.
In response, Manchester City sold Rodgers to Middlesbrough for 1.2 million euros (about 1.8 billion won) in the summer of 2023. He decided that Rogers no longer had talent.
It was a perfect misjudgment. Rodgers moved to Middlesbrough and began to stand out in the championship. In particular, his performance in the Carabao Cup was remarkable. As a result, Aston Villa recruited Rodgers through the 2024 winter transfer market. Middlesbrough has benefited a lot from the 9.2 million-euro deal.
Rodgers is showing off his talent to his heart's content after moving to Villa. Rodgers, who showed his potential to take the lead with three goals and one assist in 11 league games last season, is reborn as Villa's new future this season with six goals and three assists in 19 league games. In November, he was also selected for the England national team.
Rodgers is a second-line resource with outstanding physical conditions of 189 cm. Starting from the second striker, he plays as an offensive midfielder. Depending on the situation, he can also play as a left winger. It is a style that mainly plays in the center and influences to the left. I'm not fast, but my technical skills are really good. It also has a good understanding of space, so it makes use of the penetration of colleagues well. He has a strong shooting ability, so he has a good sense of scoring.
Rogers was a prospect with a ransom of only 2.8 million euros (about 4.3 billion won) when he started in 2024, but his ransom jumped more than 14 times over a year, and is now set at 40 million euros (about 62.4 billion won). Considering that Manchester City is currently suffering from a severe slump in second-line resources, Rogers' development is bound to hurt his stomach.
Manchester City have done only good things for other teams thanks to Cole Palmer last season and Rodgers this season. Rodgers also put a dagger in his old team, which abandoned him with one goal and one assist in his last showdown with Manchester City.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
