£60m could be enough for Aston Villa to sign their next iteration of Rogers

Aston Villa attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers is on the verge of becoming the most expensive English footballer in history, as he closes in on an exit from the club.

Chelsea have agreed a deal worth £117m to sign the England international from the Villans, eclipsing both the £116m Manchester City paid for Elliot Anderson and the £100m that City once paid Villa for Jack Grealish.

The Blues look set to beat Premier League champions Arsenal in the race to sign the 23-year-old attacking midfielder, who can play as a number ten or out wide on either flank.

Villa have, of course, signed Johan Manzambi from Freiburg to operate as a central or attacking midfielder, but they need another attacking signing to replace Rogers.

Why Aston Villa still need to replace Rogers after signing Manzambi

The Switzerland international is an exciting addition to the squad after he scored seven goals in 47 matches for Freiburg last season, and scored three goals in four appearances at the World Cup for his country.

However, he has never scored more than seven goals in a season in his career, or hit double figures for assists, and it remains to be seen whether or not he can replace the level of productivity that Rogers offered at the top end of the pitch.

The England international recorded double figures for either goals or assists in each of the last two Premier League seasons with the Villans for Unai Emery, which speaks to his consistency in the final third.

Rogers offered quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals on a regular basis, which made him a constant threat to the opposition’s goal for Villa, and Manzambi has yet to prove that he can hit that same level.

That is why the Villans need to go back into the market to add more attacking quality to their squad before the Premier League season kicks off next month.

Aston Villa in talks to sign new striker with shades of Rogers

Now, the deal to sell Rogers to Chelsea in the coming days appears to have thrown up an opportunity to land a player who has shades of the £117m-rated star.

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that Aston Villa are interested in a deal to sign Nicolas Jackson from Xabi Alonso’s side in the summer transfer window.

The reporter claims that the Villans are in talks with Chelsea over a potential move for the Senegal international, with his name coming up during their discussions about Rogers.

Romano adds that Emery ‘loves’ the striker, whom he worked with at Villarreal, and reports earlier this summer suggested that he could be worth around £60m.

The Senegalese star, who played 27 times for Emery at Villarreal, spent two seasons in the Premier League with Chelsea before his loan move to Bayern Munich, and racked up 24 oals and 14 ‘big chances’ created.

Whilst his finishing quality was questionable, as he underperformed against his xG, Jackson was a constant threat to opposition defences as both a scorer and a creator of goals.

He may not be an attacking midfielder, like Rogers, but he is a versatile forward who can play on the left flank, cutting in on his right foot, or in his favoured role as a centre-forward, which means that Emery could use him in multiple different positions.

Jackson, who once scored a hat-trick against Spurs, is an effective player because he can score and assist goals at an impressive rate, and has proven himself in the Premier League, unlike Manzambi.

The 25-year-old number nine, who was hailed as “unbelievable” by Peter Crouch, could be the ideal ‘replacement’ for Rogers, despite not playing in the exact same position, because he has the potential to replace the goals and assists that the Englishman offered.

Having Manzambi to replace Rogers in the number ten role and Jackson to replace his output at the top end of the pitch could mean that the Villans perfectly replace the £117m star with two new signings.