Steve Gibson may regret selling one former Middlesbrough player after his transfer value skyrocketed.
Under the early days of Steve Gibson’s Middlesbrough regime, the Teessiders were not and did not have to be a selling club.
The local lad spent big money on a plethora of top stars who would go on to become Boro legends, including the likes of Juninho and Gareth Southgate.
However, since their relegation to the Championship in 2009, the Teessiders have had just one season back in the Premier League.
This long stint in the second tier of English football has since Middlesbrough’s finances suffer and unfortunately for fans, it is now a lot harder for Gibson to keep his team’s best players at the Riverside Stadium.
This was evident ahead of and during the 2023/24 Championship season when Chuba Akpom was sold to Ajax after scoring 29 goals the campaign prior.
Middlesbrough also lost Morgan Rogers to Aston Villa in January, just six months after he joined from Manchester City.
Steve Gibson told Morgan Rogers now worth ‘£30m or £40m’
Boro sold Rogers to the Midlands outfit in the 2024 winter window for an initial fee of £11m.
Middlesbrough will get £5m in add-ons from Rogers’ transfer, with the majority of those clauses expected to be met this season.
However, the 22-year-old’s form following his move to Villa Park has already dramatically increased his transfer value.
Rogers excelled on his Champions League debut for Aston Villa this week, leading his side in four key statistics.
Now, after an impressive start to life under Unai Emery, Gibson has been told by journalist Craig Hope, speaking on the Back Pages podcast, that Rogers is now worth upwards of £40m.
He said: “I want to pick up on something said Martin [Hardy] there about Morgan Rogers. Now, he came across our radar at Middlesbrough last season, and I saw bits and pieces of him and I thought he was good. I didn’t think he was great.
“I was surprised when he then went to Aston Villa for £15million. But wow, you can double that and add VAT now. I think he looks like a £30million or £40million player.”
Who will be Middlesbrough’s next Morgan Rogers
After Akpom moved to Ajax, Rogers became the second Middlesbrough man to depart for a side plying their trade in Europe in less than a year.
Michael Carrick may be stuck in the Championship for the time being but he continues to develop top-class talent.
In Boro’s current first-team squad there are at least a few players who have the potential to enjoy a similar career path to Rogers.
The most obvious of these right now is Rav van den Berg who, at just 20 years of age, has the potential to develop into a world-class player.
Fulham were interested in Van den Berg during the 2024 summer window but if he continues to perform at his already high standard, it would not be surprising to see a top-six Premier League side or another big team in Europe come in for him in 2025.
Outside of the Dutchman, ex-Man City gem Micah Hamilton and Hayden Hackney have very high ceilings and could follow in Rogers’ footsteps.