Villa's Morgan Rogers says he 'wasn't good enough' to stay at Man City

Not many will remember Morgan Rogers being a Manchester City player. The Englishman joined the reigning Premier League champions' youth ranks in 2019, making his first move after spending his entire professional career at West Bromwich Albion.

"It was a proud moment because it came out of nowhere," the 22-year-old told 'ITV Sport' before he added: "When you're at that age, you're not thinking about transfers, moving, that's never on anyone's mind at 15. You just think about playing football and it kind of comes on your lap.

"You don't expect that the best team in England that were fighting for the Champions League and going for serious titles, with the caliber of players they had - the opportunity for me that I knew if I did well then I could be in and around that - was something i never would've dreamed of.

"All I knew was playing for West Brom, playing for the Under.23s, Under-18s football and everything there in that bubble. But yeah, that step away from there was very exciting. It was daunting - I'd never moved away from home - but exciting at the same time. Yeah, it was a proud moment."

But having failed to impress at Man City, Rogers was sent on various loan spells across England. He played and Lincoln City, Bournemouth and Blackpool before he was let go permanently to Middlesbrough. He spent a year at the North Yorkshire side, bagging 7 goals and 8 assists in 33 games.

Wrong player, wrong time

Asked why the Sky Blues let him leave, the forward said: "I wasn’t good enough, simple as that. I wasn't ready to be there, I wasn't myself, I wasn't the person that they signed in terms of what they expected me to go on and be. Yeah, it wasn't the right player at the right time for me or the club."

On why he failed to break into the senior team, he added: "Adaptation, I think. I'd never experienced anything different, I suppose, in a football sense before then, and struggled to be me in a kind of 'All Stars' team at that age group to fit in and show my quality within that.

"At West Brom, it was more that I could be me and just play my game, whereas at Man City, I was surrounded by everyone playing for their countries - whether it be England or different players we had. Having to adapt, I found that really difficult and really struggled."

Nevertheless, patience paid off and Rogers was able to break out at Aston Villa. With 12 goals and 7 assists, among numerous crucial performances in the Champions League and Premier League this term, the striker seems to have won over the supporters.

Thanks to his progress under Villa boss Emery, Rogers was also able to make his mark in the England squad. He received his maiden call-up during the Nations League fixtures during the November internationals, and was included by Tuchel for the recent World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.