Morgan Rogers’ transfer from Middlesbrough to Aston Villa resulted in a large profit for the club despite the fact that he only spent six months at the Riverside.
However, the £16 million transfer via Sky Sports ultimately harmed Michael Carrick’s side’s chances of promotion to the Premier League.
Rogers joined Boro from Manchester City in the summer of 2023 for a reported £1 million, making a profit of £2.5 million for each month he spent at the Riverside.
The attacker spent the previous season on loan with Blackpool, who were relegated to League One.
While the 22-year-old had a tough start with the Teesside club, he eventually settled into his role in Carrick’s side and became an important part of their rise back up the Championship table.
| Morgan Rogers – Middlesbrough league goals and appearances (per Fbref.com) | ||||
| Season | Appearances (Starts) | Goals (Assists) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 26 (14) | 2 (6) | ||
Morgan Rogers’ sale to Aston Villa
However, his form piqued Aston Villa’s interest, and the two teams agreed on a trade worth up to £16 million.
It was a brief stint with Boro, but he had a lot of potential in that time, scoring two goals and providing six assists in 26 second-tier outings.
Carrick’s team had a rough start to the season, having lost several key players during the off-season, including Chuba Akpom, Ryan Giles, and Cameron Archer.
However, at the end of January, Middlesbrough had risen to 11th place, only four points behind the play-offs.
If Rogers had stayed with the club, it’s easy to envision him playing a key role in helping the team leapfrog Hull City and Norwich City to reach the play-offs for the second consecutive year.
Middlesbrough finished eighth in the standings, missing out on a second straight top-six finish by just four points.
In his final eight league games for the club, he scored one goal and assisted five others, leaving Boro supporters wondering what he may have accomplished in the second half of the season if he had remained.
Rogers sale can be a warning for Middlesbrough
If Rogers had continued at Middlesbrough after January, there is no question that he would have held his trade worth until the summer.
Losing such a major role in the middle of the season was disruptive and hindered the squad their chance of regaining promotion to Premier League.
Rogers had a contract until the summer of 2027, so there was no imminent reason to sell the budding star.
While £16 million is a significant profit for such a short period of time with the team, it might have been considerably higher if he had maintained his form heading into January 2024 by helping the Teesside outfit finish in the top six.
Boro can learn a lesson from Aston Villa about striking a balance between providing players with a path to a bigger move while not jeopardising the club’s own objectives.
The January window is challenging, thus losing a significant portion of the club in the middle of a season is always difficult to replace.
Rogers demonstrated at Aston Villa that he was ready to make the move to the Premier League, and he has also performed well in the Champions League under Unai Emery.
But Boro will be watching, thinking what could have been if they had more time with the 22-year-old.
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