Middlesbrough did not get to call on the services of Morgan Rogers for long in the end.
Back in the summer transfer window, ‘Boro signed the winger on a four-year contract from Manchester City, for an undisclosed.
By January though he was gone, sold back to the Premier League and Aston Villa in what represented a big profit for the Championship side.
Having made that move, Rogers has already made six appearances for Unai Emery’s side across all competitions.
Now, the former Middlesbrough man has also shown some of what he can do on the international stage as well.
Morgan Rogers impresses for England Under 21s
On Tuesday, England’s Under 21s side took on their counterparts from Luxembourg in their latest 2025 Under 21 Euros qualifier.
Lee Carsley’s side claimed a 7-0 win in that match. The victory was described as a ‘rout’ by The Daily Mail, and Rogers certainly played his part in that.
Coming off the bench 62 minutes, the 21-year-old tapped home from close range with his first touch of the game to make it 5-0.
He then finished the scoring with the seventh as well. This time, a perfectly timed run allowed him in behind the Luxembourg defence, before he rolled the ball into an empty net.
It wasn’t just with his goals where the former Middlesbrough man impressed in that game.
According to SofaScore, Rogers also won all three of the duels that he was involved in on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, he successfully completed eight of the nine passes he played during his time on the pitch. Included in that distribution was two key passes.
That arguably shows the attacking threat Middlesbrough have missed out on, with the winger leaving the club so soon after he joined.
Middlesbrough may wish they still had Morgan Rogers
It may well be frustrating for those at The Riverside Stadium to see these kinds of contributions from Rogers elsewhere.
The 21-year-old was a very promising addition to Michael Carrick‘s side when he arrived last summer.
Indeed, he did make some important contributions for Middlesbrough during the first half of the campaign.
So with a long-term contract, there may have been a hope he could become an important player for the club for many years to come.
Ultimately though, that did not happen with the winger quickly moving on to Aston Villa.
Subsequent performances like this, are then a reminder of the quality ‘Boro are missing out on with Rogers no longer at the club.
However, they did at least make a profit on him. With that yet to be reinvested, there may be some excitement around Middlesbrough about what that might mean for the summer transfer window.