Chelsea have completed the signing of Morgan Rodgers after beating Arsenal to sign one of England’s World Cup stars for a huge £117m.
Rodgers puts pen to paper on a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge (Image: Chelsea FC, Getty Images)
Morgan Rodgers has completed his move from Aston Villa, officially becoming a Chelsea player and becoming the most expensive English footballer in history.
The 23-year-old England star has put pen to paper on a contract until 2033, with an option for a further year. He will join Stamford Bridge for a whopping £117m, more than Manchester City agreed to sign his World Cup team-mate Elliott Anderson.
Rodgers has been pursued by Chelsea for more than two years, having beaten off competition from Arsenal to sign the versatile attacking midfielder.
Mirror Football understands that Chelsea stole an advance from Arsenal when the Gunners had no intention of changing their opinion of Arsenal.
Sources said the Gunners had valued the England international at £80m and were willing to pay a slight premium, but when Chelsea agreed to pay Rodgers his transfer fee became the highest ever for an English player, exceeding Anderson’s transfer from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City by £1m.
His signing marks the first major win for new Blues manager Xabi Alonso. Xabi Alonso has had productive discussions with Rodgers in a bid to lure the former Middlesbrough man to west London.
When the transfer was confirmed, Rodgers said: “I’m really excited. Chelsea is the biggest club in London for me and it’s the club I’ve always admired since I was a kid.”
“I’m really excited about the project with the new manager, the players we’ve brought in and where the club is going. That’s why I’m here and I can’t wait to get started.”
“I’ve talked to him (Alonso) a few times and I think it’s important for me here to understand who the manager is, who he is and how he wants to play.
“That’s very much in line with the way I look at the game, the way I want to play, and the way I want to be me and express myself freely. Him being a part of that was a huge factor in me being here.”
Rodgers and new manager Xabi Alonso (Image: Chelsea FC, Getty Images)
Rodgers joined Man City in 2019 after coming through West Brom’s youth academy. He made no first-team appearances for City and was loaned to Lincoln, Bournemouth and Blackpool.
He joined Middlesbrough in 2023 for an undisclosed fee and scored five goals in their run to the League Cup semi-finals. He joined Villa in January next year for £8m, which could rise to £15m.
Rodgers played 125 games for Villa last season, scoring 31 goals and helping them win the Europa League.
On the international stage, Rodgers made his debut for England in November 2004 in a 3–0 win against Greece in Athens. He has made 22 appearances for England, including at the recent World Cup, scoring one goal.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
