However, The Athletic understands the west Londoners are set to sign him after Unai Emery’s side accepted a £117m bid. A medical is also reportedly scheduled for Monday, suggesting Chelsea are keen to finalize his contract. Furthermore, despite recent interest from Arsenal, Rodgers is said to have always wanted to move to Stamford Bridge.
The news will no doubt be a blind eye for the reigning Premier League champions, who were thought to be in a favorable position to sign the Englishman. Mikel Arteta’s side recently agreed to sign Club Brugge ace Christos Tzoris, so Rodgers was expected to be next.
Other reports have even suggested that the attacking midfielder, who can play on either wing, is a top transfer target, with talkSPORT reporting that a bid from the Gunners for the former Middlesbrough ace is imminent. Unless they are willing to take on Chelsea in a bidding war, they may not even be able to make an offer to the Midlanders.
Rodgers played six games for England at the World Cup and provided two assists. As well as supplying Gordon with the perfect cross against Argentina, Rodgers’ swirling shot fooled Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland and spilled into the path of Jude Bellingham to score the Three Lions’ winning goal in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Rodgers played 55 games in all competitions for Villa last season, scoring 14 goals and providing 12 assists. His best contribution was a goal and an assist in Villa’s final Europa League match against Freiburg.
Those performances convinced England manager Thomas Tuchel to take him to the World Cup over the likes of Phil Foden and new Chelsea team-mates Cole Palmer and Morgan Gibbs-White. It is now understood that Villa expected to lose Rodgers this summer but had no intention of changing that unless a fee of more than £100m was offered.
The Blues exceeded that with a huge offer. This is more than the £116m Manchester City paid for former England team-mate Elliott Anderson. However, it is not the highest in history, as Alexander Isak’s transfer to Liverpool for £125 million remains the Premier League transfer record.
