Unlike most sides in the Premier League, Aston Villa are using the January transfer window to strengthen their squad.
Unai Emery is keen to increase his squad selection options ahead of the rest of the season, where his side will be challenging on three fronts for glory.
Kosta Nedeljković has already been announced, but who else could be on their way to Villa Park?
The latest on Villa's pursuit of Morgan Rogers
According to journalist Pete O’Rourke for Football Insider, Villa are confident that they can sign Morgan Rogers before the transfer deadline day on 1st February.
The Midlands club have submitted another bid for the Middlesbrough attacker after having their first two rejected.
Indeed, one source told Football Insider that scouts had been in attendance to watch the attacker in Middlesbrough’s 1-1 draw against Rotherham last weekend. Since then they have decided to ramp up their pursuit of the lively youngster. A deal could be secured before February, with Villa desperate to get their main target.
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ByCharlie SmithFeb 1, 2024 How Morgan Rogers could supercharge Ollie Watkins
Under Emery, Ollie Watkins has simply been phenomenal, acting as the focal point while also working his socks off for the side.
His hard work has seemingly paid off, with the England forward picking up 14 goals and ten assists in 29 games across all competitions this season.
Even though he is almost at peak performance, for Watkins to really progress to the next level, he needs to form a telepathic relationship with the supporting striker, which is where Rogers comes into the fold.
The Middlesbrough ace only moved to the club in the summer from Man City for as little as around £1m, but he impressed the Villa scouts during their recent clash in the FA Cup. Rogers is a versatile player who has featured mainly in the number 10 role, and in 32 games, he’s scored six and provided nine goals.
Nonetheless, the table below shows Rogers’ statistics from this season and how they compare to their positional peers in the Championship.
Goals
0.14
Bottom 73%
Assists
0.41
Top 2%
Key passes
2.55
Top 5%
Shot-creating actions
4.82
Top 9%
Progressive passes
5.50
Top 10%
Passes into final third
2.89
Top 21%
As you can see, Rogers is the definition of a creator, and it is no surprise that Michael Carrick has labelled his star forward as “dangerous.”
With Watkins being a striker who loves to play on the shoulder of the defender, the signing of the 21-year-old – who ranks particularly highly for progressive passes in the second tier – would allow the Villa striker to focus on that aspect of the game. Rogers can take on the responsibility of dropping deeper with ease, as shown by his passes into the final third numbers.
Furthermore, the fact that his assists, shot-creating actions, and key passes rank so highly also indicates that he would massively increase the service that Watkins will receive in and around the box, therefore increasing his chance of scoring each game.
Another way in which Rogers could improve Villa’s number 11 is by simply providing a rotation option, as he has played as a centre-forward a few times this season. Emery’s busy schedule over the next few months will inevitably see fatigue and the overplaying of some individuals occur, but giving the Spaniard the choice to rest Watkins and allow him to recharge would only make his performances better.
Overall, Rogers would be the perfect signing to improve Watkins and, most importantly, Villa. Emery must jump at the chance to pick up the attacker.
