Morgan Rogers is no longer an Aston Villa player. It’s hard to take, with the England star completing a £117m move to Premier League rivals Chelsea on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old has been brilliant for Unai Emery, playing a key role in promotion to the Champions League, and at the end of last year’s Europa League campaign which resulted in a 3-0 victory over Freiburg in the final.
In 85 games in the Premier League, he has scored 21 goals and provided 19 assists, and while Emery and his team have suffered losses before, this is a big one, and they will have to hit the nail on the head if they replace him.
There is a lot of work to be done, but it has been agreed with Chelsea to sign Alejandro Garnacho.
Why Emery wants to sign Garnacho
Garnacho, 22, has the potential to become a “world-class player”, according to former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, but he still has a long way to go before he reaches that level.
At Chelsea last season, he scored just one goal in the Premier League, slipped into the sidelines, and couldn’t do what he wanted after his £40m transfer from Old Trafford to Stamford Bridge.
Now, he heads to Villa Park, a season-long loan deal has been agreed, with a conditional purchase option too.
Garnacho is a talented footballer, but natural talent can sometimes be the enemy of success for someone like the Argentine, who needs to work hard and produce sharp results if he is to succeed in the Premier League.
|
Garnacho’s Premier League career |
||
|---|---|---|
|
The season |
Applications (starting) |
Terms + Help |
|
25/26 |
24 (14) |
1 + 4 |
|
24/25 |
36 (23) |
6 + 2 |
|
23/24 |
36 (30) |
7 + 4 |
|
22/23 |
19 (5) |
3 + 2 |
|
21/22 |
2 (0) |
0 + 0 |
The departure of Rogers has torn a hole in Emery’s attacking system at Aston Villa, and it is important that he is replaced by an adequate new striker.
Garnacho may not be the perfect solution, but he still has a lot of untapped potential, and the Villans have already installed a rapid development line to help cover the sale of Rogers.
Aston Villa could sign a bigger talent than Garnacho
Garnacho is exciting, but he only scored once in the Premier League last season, and it would be dangerous to expect him to replace Rogers with confidence.
Garnacho alone may not hold the key to unlocking another level at Villa Park, with Athletic confirming that Paris Saint-Germain’s Ibrahim Mbaye is among the club’s top targets this summer.
Mbaye, just 18, has made progress in the French capital over the past few years, and PSG could actually be open to selling him for £43m due to their glut of world-class attacking talent. Villa also hold Crysencio Summerville as a top priority, but the West Ham player is headed to Saudi Arabia, so Mbaye is still at the top of the shortlist.
This young player from Senegal, who stood out and scored points for his country in the World Cup, is a young player who runs with a heel and has natural strength in front of the goals. He has played 42 games for the first team of the Parisians, scoring four goals and four assists each.
Aston Villa could be a real winner by pulling this one off; Mbaye is regarded as one of the most exciting prospects out there, and was even described as “the next Kylian Mbappe” in France by GOAL as he continues to develop at the Parc des Princes.
Mbaye starts the season with PSG, but that is not the extent of his resemblance to Les Bleus star Mbappe. His natural tendency is to carry the ball down the wing and arc inside, claiming credit for himself rather than putting emphasis on the creative side of his game.
That’s not to say he’s not a talented player, but his scoring prowess suggests he could be a star. On the other hand, Garnacho is declining in that “world-class” ability at a young age, and although he may not be able to repeat it under the wing of Emery and Villa, Mbaye is the one with the wind in his sails, and could be the one who makes a big impact down the line, if he continues to grow stronger when he reaches the Premier League.
Mbaye is a great player, and there is someone to follow for Aston Villa. With Leon Bailey hinting that he will leave this summer, this would be a great addition that could see the club move up the ladder next year.
