Aston Villa have reportedly made an offer to sign Middlesbrough forward Morgan Rogers this month to bolster our attacking options.
The 21-year-old has scored six goals and provided eight assists in 31 appearances so far this season for the Championship outfit, and recently featured against us in our FA Cup meeting earlier this month.
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According to The Athletic, Villa have made an approach to sign the talented youngster, and while it’s added that no agreement has been reached as of yet between the two clubs, both Unai Emery and Rogers are said to be keen on the move.
As per Fabrizio Romano, he adds that we’ve sent an official bid to Middlesbrough, and so it remains to be seen if a switch is confirmed in the coming days with talks likely to be ongoing.
Rogers has been capped at U20s level for England and previously had stints with West Brom and Manchester City, but it’s with Middlesbrough that he’s started to fulfil his potential and show real promise.
With the versatility to play right across the frontline, it would be an intriguing move from Villa to swoop for him, and time will tell if it’s with a view of adding competition and cover in the first-team immediately, or if he will be loaned out and gradually integrated into the senior squad.
Either way, the report above notes that he’s a top target for Emery, who has evidently spotted something he likes in the youngster and seemingly believes he can play a key role for us moving forward, if a deal can be done to land his signature.
Villa have quality in that department already with the likes of Moussa Diaby, Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey, Nicolo Zaniolo and John McGinn playing in wide areas, while we still have Emiliano Buendia to return from injury too.
However, coupled with the expected signing of youngster Kosta Nedeljkovic this week as well, we appear to have a real focus on adding talented young players this month to help form part of our long-term strategy and strengthen the squad, and so it remains to be seen if Rogers will be part of that plan.