Chelsea recruitment chief Joe Shields is pushing for a move to sign one marquee Aston Villa star, amid belief Unai Emery’s side could be forced to drop his asking price.
Chelsea set for busy summer as Todd Boehly seeks versatility
With a host of Chelsea players likely to depart Stamford Bridge, and the club currently in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League, Enzo Maresca appears set to witness another busy summer.
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The west Londoners are exploring a “shock” move.
The first summer transfer window opens in around four weeks, and will be active from June 1 to June 10 before reopening again on June 16 and ending on September 1.
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Chelsea’s final four Premier League fixtures |
Date |
|---|---|
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Newcastle (away) |
May 11th |
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Man United (home) |
May 16th |
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Nottingham Forest (away) |
May 25th |
This hands BlueCo a small chance to sign players before the Club World Cup, and while it is unclear just how many deals they can get done in the space of nine days, Chelsea know exactly which areas they’d like to strengthen.
According to journalist Simon Phillips, Chelsea are most keen to acquire a new centre-back, winger and striker, while the addition of another centre-back/left-back, attacking midfielder and goalkeeper isn’t ruled out either – depending on player sales and Champions League qualification.
Chairman Todd Boehly has also privately expressed his wish for the club to bring in more versatile players to help combat potential injury absences next season, as per Phillips, and one player who fits the bill in this regard is Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers.
The Englishman has been one of Emery’s players of the season, bagging 14 goals and 13 assists in all competitions, with a decent number of them coming in the Champions League.
Predictably, Rogers is also attracting attention from rivals as a result, prompting Villa to place a seismic £90 million price tag on the attacker’s head.
The 22-year-old can play as an attacking midfielder, on the wing, and even at centre-forward – like he’s done on two occasions under Emery this season, specifically against Arsenal and Leicester at the beginning of 2024/2025.
Joe Shields driving Chelsea move for Morgan Rogers
The sticking point is obviously his sky-high price tag, but reporter Phillips, via his Substack, says there is an expectation Villa could sell him for a reduced fee given their PSR concerns.
He also says that Shields is personally driving a Chelsea move for Rogers, so this could be one to keep an eye on.
“Sources say that Chelsea are ‘big’ on Morgan Rogers and are more than monitoring a potential move to bring him in this summer with the PSR situation there,” said Phillips.
“We’ve heard that Joe Shields is a massive fan of Rogers and is driving the interest. There is the Manchester City connection there as well of course, and we know Rogers is close with Cole Palmer.
“Rogers, who will turn 23 in July, can play in a number of positions, including out on the left. Sources believe he would be targeted for the left role as well as being a good option centrally as well.
“Villa at the moment are asking too much for him but the belief is that they might have to drop the asking price if they cannot sell any of their other players as they look to sell in order to comply with PSR.”
Some reports suggest Arsenal are lining up a move for Rogers as well, so it’s likely Chelsea will face competition.
