What will £117m Morgan Rogers bring to Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea
Palmer’s first ‘cold’ celebration was in December 2023, after scoring twice in a 3-2 win over Luton.
Since then, after scoring twice against Luton, he has literally taken ownership of the celebration and registered a trademark for it with the UK Intellectual Property Office.
However, this was primarily for commemorative purposes as Rogers celebrated after Middlesbrough’s goal against West Brom.
Rogers first struck up a friendship with Palmer after moving to Manchester City from his local club West Brom. Both were 16 and soon featured in the attack of City’s under-18 team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2020.
Joining Chelsea should make Rogers’ transition easier. He already knows Levi Colwill and Reece James from the England squad; Tosin Adarabioyo, Jamie Gittens, Romeo Lavia and Liam Delap came from City’s academy system.
This group of Englishmen form a significant part of the club’s leadership group, alongside Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.
But there is a more important football issue and that is Rogers’ place in the team, especially considering Palmer is a similar type of player.
Rogers was among the players selected by England manager Thomas Tuchel for this summer’s World Cup ahead of Palmer, but their versatility means they can play together or in each other’s positions.
One source suggests Rogers will primarily play on the left, while Palmer will play centrally as a number 10. This will leave Estevao Willian, Pedro Neto and new signing Geovany Quenda competing for places on the right, with Jamie Gittens becoming his understudy.
Chelsea will likely use a back four next season, but they are also exploring Alonso’s back-three system, which was used to devastating effect when he won the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024.
This will allow Palmer and Rogers to play together as a dual number 10, while the wingers will be asked to play in deeper wing-back roles. The Spaniard is considering various tactical options before the start of the season.
Chelsea had many problems last season; one of which was a five-game goalless streak that led to the sacking of former manager Liam Rosenior.
Rogers contributed 14 goals and 12 assists in 55 games last season and would add more firepower.
Looking at the wider squad and assuming winger Alejandro Garnacho is sold as planned, Chelsea will currently have six attacking players competing for three forward positions in a season without European football. They also have five senior strikers: Joao Pedro, Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap, Emmanuel Emegha and Marc Guiu.
Considering that Chelsea, who finished 10th last season, can play a maximum of 51 matches if they reach both domestic cup finals, it is clear that changes in the squad are needed.
