Aston Villa may have more work to do to hold onto star names as the window draws to a close
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Aston Villa have endured a difficult start to the new Premier League season and will know that the final week of the transfer window could prove crucial if Unai Emery’s side are going to continue their strong recent history under the Spaniard.
A goalless draw at home to a Newcastle United side without a recognised striker was hardly the perfect start, before relegation-predicted Brentford won their first match under new manager Keith Andrews at the hands of the Villans. Emery’s side are yet to score a goal this season and managed just five shots on target between the two games, rarely threatening to score in either one.
While a slow start to the new season is nothing to phone home about, Villa have some winnable fixtures coming up and will hope to turn things around quickly. In order to do this, they must do all they can to avoid losing any key players this late in the window.
Tottenham in ‘discussions’ over Morgan Rogers deal
Reported by Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur are in ‘preliminary discussions’ over a deal for Aston Villa attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers and are prepared to go to great lengths to get a deal done.
The north London side are in need of a playmaker after James Maddison recently joined Dejan Kulusevski on the sidelines. After Spurs missed out on Eberechi Eze in sensational circumstances to arch-rivals Arsenal, they may look to seal a pricier deal for Rogers in the hope that Villa feel pressured to sell in order to reinvest in the squad.
Villa reportedly value Rogers at £100 million amidst interest from a host of top clubs this summer, but Spurs will hope to negotiate down this figure to seal a deal for the 23-year-old former Middlesbrough man. Thomas Frank’s side are unlikely to view Villa’s asking price as within their means but are said to have begun discussions as they attempt to reach an agreement.
‘The last player’ - Rogers not for sale
Villa have stated all summer that Rogers is not for sale and recent reports have underlined this fact. Graeme Bailey told TBR Football: “They’ve denied any approaches, any knowledge of the situation. I’ve been told by people who know the Villa situation that even if there was a fire sale tomorrow, the last player out the door at Villa would be Morgan Rogers.”
It remains to be seen whether Football Insider’s latest reports reflect the beginning of a change in the situation. But, this late in the window and with dreams of trophy success in the Europa League or domestically under Emery, Aston Villa would do severe damage to their prospects this season if they were to sell Rogers.
Particularly if that sale was to be to a direct Premier League rival - Spurs have begun the new season strongly and have Champions League football to offer, but it must not be forgotten that they finished 17th last season. Villa would be naive to help strengthen the Lilywhites to challenge for Europe.
It is unlikely that a firm £100m offer is to arrive and even if it did, Villa have already freed up funds through the sale of Jacob Ramsey and loan exit of Leon Bailey. The club are no longer in as worrying a state in terms of PSR and it would be counter-productive to sell their prized asset in this window.