Championship promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough are to reap the rewards of a sell-on clause agreed in 2024.
Middlesbrough signed former West Bromwich Albion junior Morgan Rogers from Manchester City just six months earlier. He played 26 games in the Championship before Aston Villa made their move.
Rogers, from Halesowen, headed back to the West Midlands to sign for Villa and went on to star in the Champions League and Premier League. He was one of Villa’s most influential players as Unai Emery ended their 30-year wait for silverware by winning the Europa League.
Middlesbrough make fortune on Morgan Rogers
The 23-year-old scored Villa’s third goal in the final against Freiburg in Istanbul in May and was included in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup, where he played 335 minutes as the Three Lions reached the semi-finals and won the third-place play-off against France.
After a year of speculation about interest from former club Man City as well as Arsenal and Chelsea, Villa accepted a British record bid of £117 million on Saturday to set the wheels in motion for a transfer to Stamford Bridge.
The deal was announced on Tuesday evening and is a rare example of a transfer appearing to work for all parties.
Chelsea acquire a player capable of the highest of highs, at an age that leaves ample room for him to be shaped in their image. They’d be well advised not to over-engineer that process.
Rogers gets the move he wanted and links up with a manager he’s clearly excited to work with. If the Xabi Alonso project is a compelling reason to choose the Blues, a lack of European football next season is less convincing.
Villa lose another player after the unexpected departure of Youri Tielemans but bank a huge transfer fee for a player whose future would have remained in doubt for as long as he stayed at the club.
Operating under UEFA restrictions and needing to be watchful over their compliance with financial regulations, a nine-figure fee could be a game-changer as Villa embark on a necessary squad refresh.
The vast transfer fee works in Middlesbrough’s favour too. They booked a £15.5 million fee for Rogers six months after spending around £1 million to secure his services from Man City, and there’s much more to come.
Middlesbrough and Villa agreed a sell-on clause in 2024. Despite reported discussions to buy out the clause last summer, Boro are now entitled to a serious chunk of change.
According to Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie, the 20% clause means another £20 million into Middlesbrough’s coffers courtesy of Villa’s profit in the ballpark of £100 million.
The only higher transfer fees collected by Championship clubs this summer were from West Ham United’s £85 million sale of Mateus Fernandes to Tottenham Hotspur, Villa’s reported £38 million purchase of Joao Gomes from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Maxime Esteve’s £27 million switch from Burnley to RB Leipzig.
All of those selling teams were relegated from the Premier League in May.
