Manchester City haven’t backed off Morgan Rogers, despite Villa’s valuation of the 23-year-old now sitting above the British transfer record.
Hugo Viana sees Rogers as exactly the kind of direct, technical attacker City have been targeting this window, and the club are understood to be ready to go beyond £100m for him, even with City’s spending already stretched by the Elliot Anderson deal from Nottingham Forest.
But this is where the numbers get interesting, for City fans specifically. Villa rate Rogers above Anderson, pointing to his 18 England caps against Anderson’s 12 as part of the justification for a higher fee, and Villa’s asking price of £130m would surpass the £125m British record Liverpool paid for Alexander Isak.
Put simply: Villa think City have already shown what they’re prepared to pay for an England international this summer, and they want more.
The fit makes sense on paper. Rogers offers direct running and creativity from the left or through the middle, the same territory Viana has been recruiting in as City also work on bringing in a new winger.
He’s clearly also proven himself at this level already — 14 goals and 15 assists across all competitions last season, the PFA Young Player of the Year, and a Europa League winner’s medal with Villa in May.
The honest take, though, is that City are just one of three credible bidders rather than favourites.
Arsenal are reported as his leading suitor, with the Rogers camp said to favour a move to the Emirates, and Villa have no pressing need to sell with his contract running to 2031.
This is worth watching rather than getting carried away with — but if City do move, it will tell u precisely how highly Viana and Maresca rate him.
