Chelsea agree British record £117m deal for Villa's Rogers

Chelsea have had a £117m bid accepted by Aston Villa for Morgan Rogers.

A move to Chelsea is set to come after Arsenal made Rogers their top forward target this summer - and a Gunners approach to Villa was expected after the World Cup had finished.

However, Arsenal were unwilling to go to that price and Rogers is set to join Chelsea - giving up Champions League football with Villa or Arsenal next season to play for a team without European football at all.

Rogers is expected to sign a six-year contract at Chelsea with the option of another year. He's due to undergo a medical on Monday after he returns from America after England's World Cup campaign.

Rogers will become the most expensive British player - after the record had already been broken this summer after Man City paid £116m for his England team-mate Elliot Anderson.

He is also set to become Chelsea's record signing, overtaking the £115m the Blues paid Brighton for Moises Caicedo in 2023.

Stream the Premier League with no contract

The 23-year-old scored 14 goals and added 11 assists in 55 appearances for Villa last season.

Since joining from Middlesbrough in a deal worth £16m in 2024, Rogers has quickly risen from young prospect to a fully-fledged England international, with 21 caps to his name already.

He made five of those appearances during the 2026 World Cup and provided the assist to Anthony Gordon during England's semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Rogers would be the seventh former Man City youth player to sign for Chelsea since the new takeover.

The person responsibly for all these former City player signings is Chelsea's co-director of recruitment and talent Joe Shields.

Shields used to work as Man City's head of academy recruitment and talent management, working alongside former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, who was head of City's Elite Development Squad Coach, essentially the club's Under-21s side.

Morgan Rogers - summer of 2026* - £117m

Jamie Gittens - summer of 2025, £51.5m