Arsenal are making their move for Morgan Rogers. Why? Because he\u2019s a very fine footballer. But also, why?<\/p>\n
Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the Aston Villa star as Arsenal\u2019s \u2018number one, two and three target\u2019<\/a>, while fellow transfer expert Ben Jacobs confirmed that he is there \u2018leading target, and the player keen on the move\u2019.<\/p>\n If the Gunners agree the fee with Villa \u2013 thought to be somewhere between \u00a380m and \u00a3100m \u2013 Rogers will be an Arsenal player next season unless a bigger fish nibbles, and there aren\u2019t too many of those around these days.<\/p>\n We\u2019re intrigued by reports detailing Arsenal\u2019s interest. They first highlight his enviable qualities as a powerful, game-changing forward who looks as though he was made in a lab in preparation for modern Premier League football. But They then attempt to explain how he might fit into Mikel Arteta\u2019s team.<\/p>\n He\u2019s played the vast majority of his games for Villa as a second striker or attacking midfielder, with the distinction between the two more vibes-based than anything. We would argue his proximity to Ollie Watkins makes him one of very few genuine second strikers.<\/p>\n He could strike up a similar partnership with Viktor Gyokeres, but that\u2019s not going to work with Kai Havertz, and would also mean no place in the starting XI for either Martin Odegaard or Eberechi Eze.<\/p>\n Journalists putting together \u2018how Arsenal could line up with Rogers\u2019 articles are trying to convince us, and themselves, that Rogers is being signed to play on the left. The Standard\u2019s version<\/a> is typical.<\/p>\n \u2018Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze are likely to battle it out to play in the most advanced midfield role.<\/p>\n \u2018Eze can play on the left but Arsenal\u2019s priority this summer is to sign a new winger and that is likely to limit the minutes he gets out wide.<\/p>\n \u2018Arsenal are very interested in signing Morgan Rogers and there is a confidence that he would be keen to join if a fee can be agreed with Aston Villa.<\/p>\n \u2018Rogers could slot in on the left of the front three but with the freedom to roam inside and link up with Odegaard or Eze.\u2019<\/p>\n The priority \u2013 certainly one of them \u2013 last summer was also to sign a new left winger, and Arsenal ended up with a right-winger in Noni Madueke and a No.10 in Eze, whom Arteta tried to squeeze as a square peg into a round hole on the left, before admitting defeat and rotating him with Odegaard as the Gunners\u2019 playmaker.<\/p>\n Rogers drifting inside and curling shots into the top corner sounds good, but it also sounded good when we all made that assumption about Eze last summer. It didn\u2019t happen and Arteta reverted to either Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli on the left to provide some balance to what had become a very lopsided team with either Bukayo Saka or Madueke hugging the right flank.<\/p>\n