Morgan Rodgers and William Saliba in action during Arsenal vs. Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Chelsea have set their sights on potential transfer talks for two of the Premier League’s top young talents, Aston Villa’s Morgan Rodgers and Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri.
As we said at the start of the season, the Blues had a strong interest in Rodgers and we hear that remains the case, with the Villa star continuing to impress.
Rodgers has scored seven goals and provided five assists in all competitions for Villa so far this season, most recently scoring twice in back-to-back games in wins over Wolves and Manchester United.
Villa do not want to sell Rodgers this January, but Chelsea remain wary as they continue to face spending restrictions due to PSR concerns.
Chelsea feel they have a chance to move Morgan Rodgers
Sources with close ties to the agency industry say Chelsea are keeping an eye on Rodgers as a potential target, even if the deal is more likely to happen in the summer than this month.
“It’s no secret that Rodgers is high on Chelsea’s list,” a source told me this morning. “And unless something dramatically changes, Villa will be under pressure to sell, which could be a big-money sale and have a big financial impact.”
One interesting factor, however, is whether Villa can qualify for the Champions League, with Unai Emery’s side now looking like one of the main candidates to do so.
That could help them financially, and it could also convince a talented player like Rodgers to stay a little longer instead of accepting an approach from a big name like Chelsea.
Along with Morgan Rodgers, Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri could also be a player to watch.
We can also confirm that Chelsea are very keen on Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri, as first reported by Simon Phillips here on Substack.
As I understand it, Arsenal’s stance is not to sell Nwaneri, but there are a number of sources who confirm that Chelsea are keen to sign him after first making a move in the summer.
The 18-year-old is regarded as one of the country’s top talents and, although he currently has limited first-team appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side, a loan move to a mid-table Premier League team is generally thought to be far more likely than a sale to rivals such as Chelsea.
