Arsenal dropped the Morgan Rogers transfer because of an important request, and then Chelsea stepped in to make a move.
It looks like Arsenal won’t be going after Morgan Rogers anymore, after Chelsea’s huge £117 million bid was accepted by Aston Villa.
Arsenal had been linked with Rogers all summer and were actually seen as favourites to sign him. The only tricky part was that Rogers was playing for England at the World Cup, so any transfer was expected to happen after he returned.
But on Saturday evening, The Athletic reported that Chelsea had agreed on a huge deal that beats the £116 million Manchester City paid for Elliot Anderson earlier this month. Rogers has reportedly signed a six-year contract with Chelsea, with the option for a seventh year, and will do his medical on Monday.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano shared more about the transfer story, saying Arsenal almost agreed a contract with Rogers. Their interest in Club Brugge’s winger Christos Tzolis didn’t affect their plans for Rogers. Arsenal was even planning to talk to Aston Villa next week about the fee—until Chelsea stepped in at the last minute.
Arsenal didn’t want to pay close to the £117 million Chelsea offered. Instead, they hoped Villa would accept something around £90-100 million, as the club was asking for over £100 million.
Romano explained on his YouTube channel that Chelsea pushed hard with Aston Villa, wanting to close the deal quickly without a long negotiation. He called it a “pre-hijack” because Chelsea basically scooped the deal before Arsenal could officially place a bid. Chelsea will pay £117 million for Rogers and offered a longer contract with better terms than Arsenal. Even Xabi Alonso was personally talking to Rogers to speed things up. The deal is now done.
Meanwhile, Arsenal is close to signing winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge for about £35 million. Tzolis will likely replace Leandro Trossard, who recently moved to Besiktas. Arsenal’s continued interest in Rogers showed they were looking to add another attacker.
BBC Sport also reported back in June that Arsenal were keeping an eye on PSG winger Bradley Barcola as a possible alternative if the Rogers deal fell through. Barcola, 23, is also linked with Liverpool and is currently playing at the World Cup. There’s no news yet about Arsenal reaching out to Barcola’s team.