‘No better club’ – Morgan Rogers delivers Aston Villa transfer verdict

Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers has enjoyed a sensational season under Unai Emery

Morgan Rogers admits there was no better club to join than Aston Villa to become the player he is today.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed a rapid rise at Villa since joining from Middlesbrough in January 2024, in a deal worth an initial £8m, rising to £15m with add-ons.

After a bright end to last season, Rogers has registered 25 goal contributions in 45 appearances across all competitions this term.

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He earned his first call-up to the England national team in November, before being named in Thomas Tuchel’s first Three Lions squad last month.

“The season’s gone well for me personally, but it’s not done now,” Rogers said on Villa TV. “The business end games that we’ve got left, it’s important for me to show my form into this stage and not just stop now.

“These are the big games that can define our season and whether it becomes a good or a great season. It’s about finishing it off now and then in the summer I can look back at my season.

“Now’s not the time to do so, it’s just to keep focused and keep pushing that final bit just to get where we want to get to and try get our objectives.”

Asked about the key to his form, Rogers said: “I just think confidence, playing with freedom, playing with a smile on my face, enjoying my football. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.

We don’t need to be too complicated about it, it’s just about showing how good you are and showing your qualities in the team and enjoying the game.

“Especially for someone like me, if I’ve got a smile on my face and I’m happy, that’s when I’m at my best, and I’m like that here.

“I love the staff, I love the players that I play with, so it makes it more enjoyable.

“There was not a better club to come into than this. The manager, the players around, they’ve all pushed me and drove me on and got the best out of me.”

A trip the seaside, focus and consistency and match facts from the BBC

The bookmakers might thing today is a straightforward win for Aston Villa, but I’m on the side that thinks that today is going to be a tough match. But I’m also confident that if we play like we can, we should have enough.

And I’m not saying this season is different, although I think I am in a way, it’s that we are better. It took a little time to get it going and the arrival of a couple of players in January, but we are essentially a more consistent side. We should win today, but it requires the consistency to be there, the players to be there and Southampton to be there, in the sense of how they have been most of this season.

If everything plays out like it should, we should win and that’s why the bookmakers have us as favourites and we are better this season, so we should. So why am I nervous?

It’s the high of Paris and now it’s Southampton. This is the thing we have to get better at. We need to take these matches in our stride and deliver. And I don’t have the numbers in front of me, I don’t think we’ve been great at this this season or last season. Or certainly, we should or could have been better.

But we are better this season and we are more consistent. But this is the business end of the season and three points today would be massive. I’ll be back later, I’m a little fragile this morning.