Morgan Rodgers to Chelsea: What does England forward’s arrival mean for Blues squad? | football news

Morgan Rodgers is set to join Chelsea from Aston Villa for a British-record £117m – and his arrival will have a knock-on effect for Xabi Alonso’s Blues.

The England international – who arrived for his medical on Monday after returning from the World Cup – has also been linked with Arsenal, but is set to arrive in west London instead.

here, Sky Sports News Reporters Kaveh Solhekol and James Savundra examine why Rodgers is keen on a move and what the forward’s imminent arrival could mean for the rest of Chelsea’s squad.

Why Rodgers and Chelsea wanted each other

KS: Some people may wonder why Rodgers decided to swap Aston Villa for Chelsea, but the player really had his heart set on a move to Stamford Bridge and once the bid materialised, he accepted it straight away.

Playing for Chelsea next season means he won’t be able to play in Europe. If he had stayed at Aston Villa, he could have played in the Champions League, but Chelsea is still a big club.

They have big ambitions and under their new manager Alonso, they are very serious about challenging for major trophies again.

Rodgers is obviously a fantastic player, we’ve all seen that, but he’s very physical. There has been a feeling at Chelsea that the one thing their side is missing is some real physical presence and they are looking to address that this summer. By signing a player like Rodgers, they have gone some way towards that.

How might Cole Palmer be affected?

KS: I remember last season there was a game between Aston Villa and Chelsea and it was billed as a game between Cole Palmer and Rodgers – who was the best at number 10? I think that day, Aston Villa won that game and Rodgers played really well.

So you have to ask the question – will Chelsea be able to keep both Rodgers and Palmer in the same side? The two players know each other well. They were together at Manchester City and Palmer’s famous ‘cool’ goal celebration was first invented by Rodgers. It will depend on Alonso how he can accommodate both these players in the same team.

There is no indication that Chelsea want to sell Palmer, far from it. He has signed a very long contract and just before the end of the season, he gave a newspaper interview in which he said he was happy at Chelsea and living a happy life in London.

There have been reports that he wants to go back to the North West, that one day he wants to play for Manchester United, but I think he will cost so much that there aren’t many clubs who can buy Palmer if Chelsea want to sell him.

What about Enzo Fernandez?

KS: Enzo Fernandez has made it clear on a few occasions that he wants to move to Real Madrid, but we had some clarity a few weeks ago when the La Liga club released a statement saying they were not involved in any talks.

They have not made any move to sign Fernandez and if they want to sign him, they will do everything through proper channels. Chelsea have a very good relationship with Real Madrid at the highest level, so I’m sure if they were interested in signing Fernandez it would only be a matter of picking up the phone.

I think what Chelsea will tell them is that every player has a price and Fernandez is worth £120m. If you want him, that’s all it takes to buy him. But so far, Real Madrid has not made any move for him to our understanding.

JS: Fernandez’s position remains largely unchanged despite Rodgers’ arrival. Alonso confirmed his intention to keep the Argentine in his unveiling last week and mentioned Sky Sports News That he was looking forward to working with the midfielder.

Having committed more than £100m to Fernandez in 2023, Chelsea will want to recoup at least the same level of money to approve a sale.

Real Madrid have ruled themselves out of the race to sign Fernandez – for now – which has left few viable suitors.

The Argentine enjoyed success under Enzo Maresca, but is a move to Man City likely in a window where City have already spent £116m on Elliott Anderson and there is tension between the clubs given the Maresca saga?

How might Rodgers fit into Alonso’s system?

JS: Alonso refused to give any clues when it came to his playing arrangements last week. His main success as manager at Bayer Leverkusen saw Jeremy Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo dominate as wing-backs. If he adopts his preferred formation at Chelsea, Rodgers is most likely to operate as a wide attacking midfielder.

Given the struggles of Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens last season and the presence of Palmer, you’d expect Rodgers to be favored on the left side.

There are real similarities between the positions picked by Palmer, Rodgers and to some extent Joao Pedro. While the trio thrives in a fluid position rather than a rigidly fixed structure, Alonso needs to create a clear structure with specific roles.

Chelsea need to sell?

JS: Chelsea Club World Cup Champions. During the BlueCo era they weren’t always world class on the pitch but they were world class sellers.

They have already secured enough outgoings this summer to cover Rodgers’ £117m outing. Chelsea raised around £130m by selling players such as Mark Cukurella, Andre Santos and Tyreek George, and the significant compensation from Man City for poaching Maresca certainly helped.

The likes of Reece James, Palmer and Joao Pedro are seen as untouchable assets, but other members of the first-team squad will leave for significant fees – Garnacho, Nicolas Jackson and Trevoh Chalobah could fetch another £100m if they leave.

Despite not being in Europe this season, Chelsea will still be subject to UEFA’s strict financial rules. Last summer, Chelsea entered into a four-year settlement agreement with UEFA for breach of rules and they will look to demonstrate progress in demonstrating financial sustainability following this window.

Chelsea brought in around £300m from player sales last summer and with the surplus if needed and the need to move on in at least one striker, it could be another impressive summer of trading.

Where does this deal leave Arsenal?

KS: It’s a long transfer window… but I’m not sure Arsenal were prepared to pay £117m for him.

Perhaps you could argue that Chelsea need him more at the moment – Arsenal are the current champions and they’re in the Champions League too.

Many of these deals happen when someone puts their money where their mouth is. We could talk about Arsenal potentially being interested in Rodgers, but Chelsea made a bid and it was accepted by Aston Villa.