Morgan Rogers is a prime participant however now just isn’t the time to hitch Man Utd for Aston Villa star
You have to be a certain type of footballer to succeed at Manchester United. As well as having supreme skill, you also need the kind of mental strength required to survive at one of the most demanding and pressurised clubs on the planet.
United’s sense of self-entitlement in recent times has been one of their most damaging traits. And it has led to bigger names than Morgan Rogers capitulating at United when times have proved tough.
The likes of Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba, Donny van de Beek, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Radamel Falcao are just a few of the superstars to have come and gone from United, without making the kind of impression their egos and reputations had promised.
Heck, even Cristiano Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford turned into an unmitigated disaster.
Rogers is the latest name to be linked with a move to United this summer. Reports suggest United have him high on their list of targets, and are willing to spend around £70m luring the Aston Villa star to Manchester.
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There is no doubt Rogers would add goals and attacking creativity to Ruben Amorim’s team. But there’s also an argument to suggest such a move wouldn’t suit either party.
Rogers won’t come cheap, and is far from the finished article. While his admission that he wasn’t good enough to succeed at United’s neighbours Manchester City, suggests some vulnerabilities and self doubts remain in his makeup.
At just 22, he is the sort of age which makes him vulnerable to being chewed up and spat out at United. Because if someone like him had three bad games on the bounce, the pressure and scrutiny would be on a level he’d never come close to experiencing before.
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Certainly not at Middlesbrough, where he was before securing an £8m move to Villa. One good season, like the one Rogers is having in the Midlands, doesn’t make a proper player.
It remains to be seen if Rogers ends up leaving Villa for United. But he still has lots of time on his side, and is playing in an energetic team at the highest level.
Villa could well be in the Champions League again next season, while barring the miracle of winning the Europa League, United will won’t be. Now is not the time to be joining United, who remain a club and team stuck in the middle of a damaging decline.
They used to be one of those elite clubs – the kind all the top players wanted to join. But those days are long gone, and this is something Rogers should give careful consideration to in the coming months.
