Middlesbrough football club are likely to be forced to make a decision on the future of Morgan Rogers over the next few days if, as expected, Aston Villa return with a final offer for the attacking midfielder.
The midlands club have seen two bids rejected already, with reports suggesting that the initial offers were not even seriously considered. They are currently some way off the valuation that Boro hold for Rogers, and despite buying him for only £1 million, The Teesside club are likely to want a much bigger return on the 21-year-old who grew up in Halesowen, just outside Birmingham.
Final offer on the way
Unai Emery’s side have an F.A Cup tie on Friday against Chelsea, before a league game on Tuesday at home to Newcastle. According to the Northern Echo, a final bid is being readied, and with that in mind, they are likely to want to tie up any transfer business over the weekend so that they can fully focus on their continued push to finish in the top four.
The general consensus seems to be that if Villa come in with a bid in the region of 12 million, it would be extremely difficult to knock back given the obvious sustainability benefits for the club moving forward. The way that the club is run means that assets need to be sold from time to time to ensure that the club has a clean bill of health financially.
Djed Spence, Marcus Tavernier, and Chuba Akpom have all been sold in recent years to help balance the books and allow Boro to move forward without amassing a crippling debt. The club’s recently released accounts for the year up to June 2022 showed once again that without Steve Gibson’s support, Middlesbrough would face financial ruin. Selling a player for upwards of 10 million would undoubtedly relieve the pressure to have to off-set a huge financial loss.
It could be a healthy return after just six months
A bid in that kind of region would also represent a very healthy mark-up on a player that has only been in a Boro shirt for six months or so. The other point to appreciate, is that any fee that is received by Boro, would have to be lucrative enough to absorb the sell-on fee inserted by Manchester City (believed to be 20%) when they sold him. City are renowned for inserting such a clause in deals that see their academy talents leave the Etihad. This is because it is so difficult for young players there to break into a side full of global stars, and there is an acceptance that even though they move on, they are likely to do well elsewhere, given the success of their set-up at that level.
With all of that said, if Villa do not meet the required valuation, then Michael Carrick will have a very good player still available to him for the rest of the campaign. The pressure is not insurmountable to sell at this point. Boro have enough assets in the squad and the sad reality is that if Michael Carrick does not manage to steer his side to promotion this season, then interest in Hayden Hackney and Morgan Rogers will still be there and they could cash in during the summer instead.
It seems pretty clear that Villa rate Morgan Rogers highly, as he was talked about when they sold Jack Grealish to City. His sublime goal in a game to forget against Chelsea might just ramp up the price. Just how highly the Villains rate him will be revealed in the coming days. Over to you Villa.