The story is beautiful. It’s that of a player who took his time and who needed it. At 22, he is one of England’s men of the season. And if Aston Villa is in the race for the Top 4 in the league and the top eight in the Champions League, Morgan Rogers is no stranger to it. In less than a year, the midfielder went from the Championship to a start against Bayern Munich in C1. However, his start to his career was eventful to say the least. When he joined the Villains on the last day of the 2024 winter transfer window, it was already his seventh club.
During his young existence, there were various stages. The first, not so trivial, was to choose football, because he was good at several sports, especially cricket. He grew up in Halesowen, about fifteen miles from The Hawthorns stadium, he was a die-hard fan of West Bromwich Albion, whom he joined at U9. A regular ball collector for the first team, he only represented it once, a decade later, in February 2019 against Brighton in the FA Cup.
Someone close to Palmer
The same year, at the lower level, during an FA Youth Cup match, he caught the eye of his future club. That day, tell The AthleticPep Guardiola and his deputy Mikel Arteta are in the stands. Txiki Begiristain, the sporting director of Manchester City, decides to make it a priority. So at 17, he joined the Citizens and his training club recovered a few million. Rogers trains with the young guys, sometimes with the big guys, but at that point he probably doesn’t know he’ll never play with them. When Manchester City won the FA Youth Cup in 2020, he scored in the final, like his great friend, roommate among English youth, Cole Palmer. “He is one of the closest people to me in football and in my life.”
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He also regularly celebrates like the Chelsea player, rubbing his arms from the cold. In City, he learns a method, a structure, but he has to rub shoulders with “adults”. First in Lincoln, where he has fun with his other great friend, Brennan Johnson. Unfortunately, what happens next is more mixed. At Bournemouth, in D2, playing time was limited, he only started once and even though he was technically still on loan, he played his last match in January and returned to train at Manchester City.
“If you don’t play, don’t waste time, learn about yourself“, he confided to The Athletic. Finally, in Blackpool which is struggling not to go down, its former coach from Lincoln, Michael Appleton, is fired two weeks after his arrival. The season is contrasting, but mentally useful: “Every week, you had to adapt to try to be effective in a match where you have very few chances. It pushed me like never before.”
On these experiences, he responds to the BBC : “I wouldn’t be the same without them. I chose this challenge and I will make the same decisions again. The idea was to store the minutes.” A positive attitude despite the challenges, that his school friend Matt Smith, quoted in the Birmingham Mailhad once noted: “He never did anything without enthusiasm and he always had the desire to learn. It translates on the ground.”
In the summer of 2023, the time has come for a new start, four years after his arrival. He signed for Middlesbrough, coach Michael Carrick saw potential in this 21-year-old midfielder. The affair got off to a bad start, no victory in the first seven matches, and for Rogers, 12 matches in a row on the bench from mid-September. The situation finally improved and his first part of the season proved productive, seven goals and nine assists. Particularly in the League Cup, the club lost in the semi-final against Chelsea (1-0, 1-6), but scored on the return leg.
Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 2-0 during the Premier League match between Aston Villa FC and Manchester City FC at Villa Park on December 21, 2024 in Birmingham, England
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Proving his worth at Manchester City
In the FA Cup this time, in January against Aston Villa, in a number 10 role, he made a big impression on Unai Emery. As a result, six months after his transfer to Middlesbrough, he signed for the Villains for around fifteen million pounds. A substantial sum given his CV at the time, also testifying to the immense hopes of the club. And since he returned to the West Midlands, five years later, the Englishman has been making a name for himself, so much so that he extended his contract until 2030 in November.
The victory against Manchester City (2-1) a few weeks ago is symbolic. Scorer, decisive passer and man of the match. Naturally, Pep Guardiola explained: “[Quand il était là], there were players who won a treble. De Bruyne at his prime, Bernardo, Mahrez, Sané, Sterling…“. On his “failure at City“, Rogers explained to Guardian : “It didn’t work out so well, but Guardiola told me that what he saw in me, I did here. It shows how far we’ve come. It wasn’t the most successful part of my career, but it shaped me to be who I am today.”
-And if there is another who saw great potential, it was Unai Emery. This season, Rogers started all of the Champions League and Premier League matches… except one, because he was suspended. On his coach, Rogers explained: “Emery pushes me every day, he doesn’t let me breathe for a second.” And at the BBCto describe his method “yes intense” : “He asks a lot, he trusts me and gets the best out of me. I have progressed enormously. He wants me to have the courage to dictate the game, he guides me on small additions in my decision-making.”
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This summer, after an injury at the end of last season, Rogers sought to maximize his physical preparation. The Athletic reported that a club physiotherapist even joined him on vacation. Objective, to be on top from the start in relation to his profile, he judged for The Guardian : “With my style of play and my positioning, there will be contacts and traffic. I have to manage this pressure, extract myself from it. I wanted to be stronger, fitter and faster.”
A bulldozer in midfield
If Rogers relishes the physical aspect, it is also the mental dimension which helps him to pass these levels, such as the discovery of the Champions League and the English selection. “I worked on confidence. I adopted a mindset: why not be the best, no matter the day or the opponent, even if there are world-class players around?”
Always with uncompromising self-criticism. “Before, I let opportunities pass me by, maybe I played too nice. I didn’t fully show what I was worth. Now I don’t want to waste a second.” After the victory against City, he spoke of areas for improvement: “Sometimes I do the hardest part and then I have a harder time finding that little extra touch of quality and keeping my cool.”
Its versatility, which is not new, is another asset. In the past, he played on both sides, a little further down and even up front. With Unai Emery, he is often on the left or in a playmaking role, supporting Ollie Watkins or John Duran. Through his power, his confidence in dribbling or his direct and vertical runs, he wreaks havoc in the middle.
In The Birmingham Mailhis childhood friend Matt Smith is tempted to associate him with another English crack, Jude Bellingham. The two grew up about ten kilometers apart. “He is very thoughtful. He has a great family network, they have their heads on their shoulders. [Jude et Morgan] are good people who know what to do to reach the top level. They are quite similar, accomplished professionals.”
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Like the Real Madrid player, he is very close to his parents and brothers. “It’s funny because the Rogers and the Bellinghams are pretty close. Morgan’s father was in the fire department, Jude’s father was a police officer..” A few years ago, the future was a little dark. His friends were successful and he dreamed of playing the big matches. Now, he plays leading roles in the Premier League and even on the European scene. Morgan Rogers, it’s is a beautiful story, but above all a wonderful lesson in resilience.
