Morgan Rogers exclusive interview: 'Unai Emery no longer calls me a Championship player at Aston Villa'
Morgan Rogers is trying to help Villa realise a dream in a season where one of his biggest has already come true.
Just three months ago, he was watching Premier League matches on television, wondering what it would be like to play in one.
Now he knows, having become an increasingly important part of a Villa team targeting Champions League qualification and glory in the Europa Conference League.
“It’s a bit crazy,” reflects Rogers. “Honestly, it’s pinch-yourself stuff at times.”
Making your Premier League debut is one thing. Yet it is the speed with which Rogers has taken to life in the top flight which sets his story apart.
A January deadline day signing from Middlesbrough, for an initial £8million fee, Rogers expected opportunities to initially be limited.
Villa’s chronic injury troubles quickly changed that. Since making his full debut away to Ajax in the Conference League early last month, he has started eight of the next 10 matches and has rapidly made the transition from promising talent to valuable component of Unai Emery’s team.
The 21-year-old’s performance in last weekend’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth, in which he scored his second Villa goal, was hailed as his best yet by captain John McGinn but that, in truth, is a statement which could have applied to any of the previous five or six games for a player becoming more important to the side's cause with each passing week.
Rogers knows boss Emery has been impressed too. For his first two months at the club, the Spaniard was telling him he was a Championship player. But no longer.
“He hasn’t said that for a while. Hopefully, I am proving to him I can handle it in the Prem!” laughs Rogers.
“The manager really is great with me, pushing me every day to get better. He knows the capability I have.
“When I signed for Villa, I never imagined I would play and be involved as much so soon.
“Obviously, I had the confidence and belief that I deserved to be here and was good enough but the team was playing so well and so well structured.
“I’ve been pretty pleased with my performances, especially of late. It has been a mad six weeks, two months or whatever you want to call it. I am just going for it, every chance I get.”
Rogers does not only play like he has been in the Premier League for years, rather than weeks. He talks like it too.
As he speaks for his first newspaper interview as a Villa player, it becomes easy to understand how he has picked up Emery’s methods so quickly.
