Why Arsenal’s Morgan Rodgers will never play for the club again

Arsenal’s goals this summer are clear. They need to strengthen their offensive line.

A year on from signing the likes of Victor Gokeres, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze, Mikel Arteta doesn’t appear to be completely satisfied with the options at his disposal.

We’ve seen a number of high-flying players targeted, including Bradley Barcola, Eli Junior Crupi and Club Brugge’s Christos Tzoris.

However, the Gunners’ number one target is currently Morgan Rodgers. It’s just a shame he could cost more than £130m.

Why Morgan Rodgers is Arsenal’s biggest target

Arsenal were in need of an instant winger this summer, so it is perhaps surprising that Rodgers has emerged as Arteta’s dream target.

After all, this player is a similar type of player to Eberechi Eze. Aston Villa’s star player is a hybrid between an attacking midfielder and a winger. It is believed he will play more as a winger if he moves to the Emirates Stadium.

With that in mind, this move starts to make more sense, but it feels unlikely that Villa will pay anything close to what they’re asking. Prices will have to come down significantly.

At £130m he’s not worth the money. But at nearly £90 million, it will. The fact is that he is a proven player in the Premier League and Arteta values ​​that incredibly highly.

Much of his business in recent years has been raiding fellow England teams alongside West Ham’s Declan Rice, who holds a record £105m contract. Rodgers may be close to that, too.

What makes him better than the aforementioned Barcola is his experience in English football. He is only 23 years old, so there is plenty of room for him to grow. He is already particularly consistent and could reach a new level with a more ball-dominant Arsenal.

The Villa star, who won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2024/25, has scored 14 goals and provided 16 assists in all competitions. Last season, he scored 14 more goals and provided 12 points to his teammates.

From a creative point of view, he may not be as strong as captain Martin Odegaard, but he is an exceptionally strong runner and Arsenal miss that from the wings and central areas.

The England international will undoubtedly add another dimension to Arteta’s attacking line-up.

What Rodgers’ arrival means for the Arsenal team

Last summer was all about adding depth. The important thing this summer is to improve quality and add players who can contribute to back-to-back Premier League titles.

This is bad news for some members of the front line. Rodgers doesn’t arrive to play second fiddle. He is a player who starts in most games. He has only missed two league games in the past two seasons.

Arsenal have reportedly already accepted a £17m offer from Besiktas to sell Leandro Trossard, and the arrival of a new winger could also bring an end to the signing of Gabriel Martinelli. The fact that he can play in midfield could also hurt Eze and Odegaard’s game time.

But there is no doubt that this move will prove fatal for Ethan Nwaneri. There were already thoughts that he might be playing his last game for Arsenal ahead of this summer, with a departure now looking increasingly likely. Rodgers is a player who can play in a similar position, but that doesn’t bode well for Nwaneri at all.

Add the possibility of adding another winger into the equation and it’s not good news at all for the Hail Enders.

The truth is that supporters cannot afford to get sentimental this summer. It is likely that several popular players will leave the Emirates Stadium.

But where did everything go wrong for the teenager after such a fantastic breakthrough campaign in 2024/25? During that season, he was compared to Lionel Messi by Joe Cole, scoring nine goals in 37 games. He looked like a real-life Rodgers, a player who could play on the wing as well as in the middle. He was a relentless runner, much like the Villa man, and had a strong career.

Arsenal’s youngest-ever player, Nwaneri’s future always looked bright, but after a difficult 2025/26 season, it looks like it’s over for the 19-year-old from north London.

The Gunners still rate the teenager highly. Last summer, they handed him a new contract and his first-team jersey number (22). However, he simply could not integrate into the team. He did not start a single game in the Premier League during the first half of last season, and was loaned to Marseille for the second half of the season.

However, after the departure of Roberto de Zerbi, he was unable to join the team there either. The young Englishman has started just three games in Ligue 1 and has been off the bench in each of his last four games.

Nwaneri remains an incredibly exciting young player, but his chances of featuring for the Gunners again in the summer, when Arsenal need to sign a few elite forwards and then make some sales, are next to nil.

Another loan move would be beneficial, but in an era of PSR where Academy products represent pure profit, it’s probably better to sell now. It would be a sad end to his time at the Emirates Stadium.