Morgan Rogers’ rise from promising EFL loan prospect to key Aston Villa attacker and England international has been one of the most eye-catching narratives over the past couple of years.
After coming up through the West Bromwich Albion youth system, Rogers was snapped up by Manchester City as a 17-year-old and after 18 months at the Etihad Campus, the loan spells began.
What followed was formative spells at Lincoln City, Bournemouth and Blackpool before his permanent move to Middlesbrough in the summer of 2023 - and it was this time in the EFL which saw helped make him the player he is today.
How Rogers learned to thrive under pressure
Rogers’ half-season stint at Blackpool over the second half of the 2022/23 campaign saw him reunited with his former Lincoln boss Michael Appleton and it proved to be key in his development.
The Seasiders were sat third-bottom of the Championship following a dire run of form, with Appleton given the sack within two weeks of Rogers’ arrival.
Mick McCarthy was the next man up and would also struggle during a stint which saw him utter his infamous ‘it can’ response a local journalist told him that it surely couldn’t go on like this.
McCarthy left in early April, shortly before the club were relegated, but the experience proved to be significant for Rogers.
“I learned loads during that period,” the 23-year-old tells FourFourTwo. “It was the first real time for me playing under pressure, with relegation on the horizon, and we were eventually relegated.
“Every single game meant so much to everybody – it was almost like every one was a must-win – I’d never experienced that before.”
It was after this stint that Rogers really go up through the gears, as he would enjoy a breakthrough season at Middlesbrough, making 33 appearances for the club following his permanent move to the club and scoring seven goals.
This form convinced Aston Villa to pull the trigger on a permanent move for a fee that could rise up to £15million and despite now featuring for a club with Premier League top-four ambitions, Rogers is still drawing from his Blackpool experience.
“You have that feeling when you’re going for the title, or the top four, like we were at Aston Villa last year.
“We had to win every game and just came up short – you learn from experiences like that. They’ve all been valuable lessons that have helped me along the way.”
Rogers was speaking at PUMA’s new store on Oxford Street in London, the brand’s first European flagship store.
