Man City hope to sign Aston Villa attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The Citizens have had a poor season by their standards with Pep Guardiola’s side currently fifth in the Premier League and in danger of not qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Brighton are all breathing down their necks and Man City now face a tricky fixture in the Manchester Derby against Man Utd on Sunday.
Man City wasted no time in improving their squad in the January transfer window, after a terrible start to the season, with Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah all joining Guardiola’s squad.
And the Citizens are set for another recruitment drive in the summer transfer window to plug all the gaps in the squad as they look to get back on top of the league next season.
Kevin de Bruyne announced his departure in an emotional farewell message on social media on Friday and he will be one of the main players they will look to replace in the summer.
And now our friends at TEAMtalk are claiming that Man City have ‘made the stunning decision’ to re-sign Aston Villa attacking midfielder Rogers in the summer.
Rogers spent time in the Citizens’ academy between 2019 and 2023 before Middlesbrough took a chance on him by spending £1m to take him to the Riverside.
Before joining Boro, Rogers had spent time on loan at Lincoln City, Bournemouth and Blackpool, while his fast development on Teeside persuaded Aston Villa to spend £15m on his signing last February.
And Rogers has gone from strength to strength ever since with the 22-year-old contributing 12 goals and 11 assists in 43 matches in all competitions, while picking up four England caps in the process.
TEAMtalk add that Man City now have ‘serious hopes’ of landing Rogers with the website insisting that Guardiola ‘loves’ the Aston Villa attacker.
However, a move to the Etihad Stadium is far from assured with Aston Villa demanding a ‘mammoth offer’ for them to consider parting with one of their prize assets.
Danny Mills insists Rogers’ journey in the EFL helped the Aston Villa get the hunger to progress into a full England international.
Mills said last month: “Did anyone think that when Morgan Rogers left Manchester City, he’d play for England? I don’t think so. But sometimes, that move away makes that player; it’s gives them that hunger and they fit in somewhere else. He’s been playing incredibly well this season, and I think that’s partly down to him playing in the lower divisions.
“He’s built his career up and now he’s getting better and better. I think in recent years, we’ve expected too many players to come out of nowhere, and after two or three starts for their club, be thrown into the England team, and hit the ground running.
“Traditionally, the unwritten rule was you needed 50 Premier League appearances to be a regular starter for England.
“I think that Rogers has had the benefit of better grounding by working his way up and he’ll feel more comfortable playing in an England shirt, rather than being thrown in the deep end as an emerging talent.”
Former Man Utd and Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke has picked out Rogers as his choice for the best young player in the Premier League this season.
Yorke said recently: “Jhon Duran was my first pick and then of course he left, so I’m a little bit despondent by that. I think Cole Palmer, he had a really good early stage, but he tailed off in recent weeks. In terms of young players, I’m just trying to think who else has really hit the scene. I really like the Villa player, Morgan Rogers. Like, wow
“I gotta say, when you look beyond the boy Rogers at Villa, who has done really well, there isn’t an outstanding candidate, or certainly not one that has played with anything like the consistency that Rogers has shown. So’ I’ll go with Morgan Rogers. He’s a great prospect and he’s flourishing at Aston Villa under Unai Emery.”