£117m Rogers failed at Bournemouth - and feared he may not make it

Rogers scored only once on loan at Bournemouth, against Luton Town in the Championship

Three years before becoming Chelsea’s £117m club-record signing, Morgan Rogers watched his value fall to just £1m and questioned whether he would make it at all.

For Rogers, the transition from academy football to the men’s game was not as seamless as he had hoped and, in his own words, it took a series of “difficult loans” for him to break through.

Bournemouth, who Chelsea face at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, were the first of two underwhelming Championship loan spells for Rogers, alongside a later stint at Blackpool, while he was a Manchester City player.

It was a setback for a player who had been a regular England youth international and one of West Bromwich Albion’s brightest academy prospects.

In a recent interview with Chelsea’s club channel, Rogers said that period taught him how to “take knocks”.

Asked what his rise through the EFL had taught him, he replied: “Everything.”

After a long pause, he added: “I needed that next challenge, to be taken out of my comfort zone and find the player I was going to be in professional football.

“I think the academy player I was, if you watch me then, is not the same player I am now. I am a completely different player. I had to learn that on loan.

“The one thing I learned when going through these difficult loans is that I couldn’t care less what people say about me. I just care about what I can control.”

Rogers lined up in an attack with now-Everton forward Brennan Johnson at Lincoln City

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad loan,” Rogers’ first loan manager at Lincoln City, Michael Appleton, told BBC Sport.

Appleton had worked in West Brom’s academy and knew Rogers was one of the most highly rated prospects there. He made it his mission to bring him to Sincil Bank in League One.

He remembers Rogers having a big personality and speaking up in team meetings despite arriving as an 18-year-old. The forward went on to score six goals and provide two assists in 28 appearances after joining shortly after lockdown.

En route to the play-off final, which Lincoln lost to Blackpool, Appleton recalls one moment in particular.

“We played Portsmouth away and they had three or four absolute units in the team,” he added. “We were setting up for set-pieces and almost running out of players to pick up these giants.

“Without any hesitation whatsoever, Morgan said: ‘Make me a marker. I’ll head the ball out of our box.’

“This was a teenager on his first loan.

“He was full of confidence because he was playing well, but he took the defensive side of the game just as seriously as trying to impact the opposition’s box. For me, that’s a great example of him as a person and as a player.”

However, after earning an opportunity in the Championship with Bournemouth, Rogers started only three matches and scored once under then-manager Scott Parker, whose side secured promotion back to the Premier League.

Rogers had little impact and was described as a “slow burner” by former scout Des Taylor, who brought him in.

He added: “You could see his ability having scouted him at Lincoln, but it wasn’t clear what he would become. We saw his Lincoln loan spell turn him from a boy into a man.

“He showed he could handle the physical side of things after coming from Man City’s academy. Unfortunately, we signed him late in the window. We saw him as a number 10, but Parker was not really playing with a number 10.

“I don’t think it was a great time for him because he wasn’t getting game time and, when he did, it wasn’t in the position he wanted. He was a victim of the transition. It was no fault of Scott’s, but it didn’t work out.”

Former Bournemouth team-mate Steve Cook added: “Bournemouth had the opportunity to sign him permanently (reportedly for £9m) but it didn’t work out.

“He didn’t let it stop him. First and foremost, he was a really good lad. He was energetic away from the football pitch and I think that character has helped take him to where he is now.

“He’s a great example that not every journey is straightforward. You need setbacks to make you hungry and appreciate what you’ve got. He worked hard, listened, had a willingness to learn and wanted to prove people wrong.”

Rogers’ loan spell was cut short and he returned to academy football before an injury delayed his next move to Blackpool until the following January.

The move reunited Rogers with Appleton in the Championship, but the manager was sacked after only two weeks and replaced by Mick McCarthy.

Rogers made 20 appearances, both as a starter and substitute, scoring once as the Tangerines were relegated to League One after appointing a third manager in April.

“Unfortunately, he played one game against Watford and then I got sacked. That wasn’t great for either of us,” Appleton added.

“He’d been patient, I’d been patient while he recovered from his summer injury, we’d finally reconnected and then I was out of the building.

“I don’t think he played as much as he would have liked after that, but he dealt with it professionally and in the right way.”

Rogers says this period was “difficult” and tried not to compare himself to former team-mates who overtook him and got opportunities before him.

He even doubted whether he would make it but said his family and friends kept him grounded.

Notably, his “best friend in football”, Cole Palmer, joined Chelsea for £42.5m having not needed a loan move to establish himself at Manchester City. At the same time, Rogers joined Middlesbrough for just £1m.

A run of five goals and three assists during Middlesbrough’s six-game run to the Carabao Cup semi-finals alerted Aston Villa, where several of Rogers’ former West Brom coaches were working in senior academy roles, to make an initial £8m move in the winter window.

By then, however, his close friend Palmer had already broken into the England squad through regular goals and assists for Chelsea.

“Morgan is a great example that careers aren’t always a straight line,” Appleton explained.

From a £9m prospect to a £1m gamble and eventually a £117m Chelsea signing, his story is a reminder that some of the best footballers need to overcome setbacks from a young age.

£800m in, £800m out - Why Man City scandal shines light on Man Utd finances

The Premier League panel’s report laid it out in black and white.

“The club’s income was hugely overstated by over £830 million.”

In other words, Manchester City’s owners circumvented the league’s financial regulations over a number of years by pumping money into the club that should not have been recorded as sponsorship income.

The damning judgement landed less than five days after Manchester United’s extended filing to the New York Stock Exchange which detailed their end of year accounts to 30 June 2026.

Contained within it was an interest payment of £37m, an increase from £34m the previous year.

And respected football finance blogger Swiss Ramble now estimates that United’s net interest payments since the leveraged Glazer takeover of the club in 2005 have risen to a total of £852m.

Without excusing City’s owners in any way, it has not escaped the attentions of many fans from both Manchester clubs that while the arrival of one ownership group in the city resulted in money being ploughed in, it meant a similar significant sum being paid out in interest for the other.

United’s latest accounts included this comment from chief executive Omar Berrada: “While these results confirm that we are on the right trajectory, we will continue to take a disciplined approach to ensure our finances remain sustainable.”

This came after a third-place finish in the Premier League, which confirmed a return to the Champions League after a two-year absence.

Record revenues of £677.6m, projected to go as high as £760m in 2026-27, is something to celebrate.

Yet Berrada’s cautious stance underlined a few home truths.

In confirming they had spent £191.7m on new players; notably Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, and costs associated with them, plus academy players such as England youth international Tynan Thompson, since 30 June, with payments due ‘in the next five years’. United also revealed they had borrowed an additional £90m. It took their overall debt to £1.15bn.

To put that into context, in accounts to June 2021, the comparable sum was £667m.

Prior to 30 June, United’s transfer debt was £375m. Of that, £218m must be paid before 30 June 2027. United have also said in addition to Baleba, Santos and Tielemans, they are liable for another £122.8m in potential contract payments if players they have already signed hit pre-agreed targets – although presumably the club would be happy if they ended up paying this.

When they restructured their debt in June, United added $125m (£94.36m) to their main debt. On 23 September, they said £63.5m had been spent on land for their proposed new stadium, the precise funding model for which is still to be determined.

Many fans, particularly those who do not want a new stadium, feel that money would have been better invested in Michael Carrick’s squad.

Yet, as Berrada said, United are taking a ‘disciplined approach’ on that.

In 2025, United had the fifth highest wage bill in the Premier League, at £313m. The absence of European football means that sum dropped to £302m in 2025-26. No other clubs have released their figures yet, but it would be a major surprise if United climbed any higher, meaning Carrick over-achieved by finishing third. United’s wages to turnover ratio is 45%. No club had a better figure than that last season.

While there are variables and also notable exceptions, including the Old Trafford outfit themselves who over the past decade, have topped the annual salary cost table but not the actual Premier League, and in 2024-25 finished 15th despite those fifth highest wage costs, there is a general correlation between salaries and performance.

Yet, while United were relatively restrained on the transfer front in terms of spending this summer – their £148m outlay was below that of newly-promoted Ipswich and Hull among others – their recent net spend has been high. The reason for this is clear.

When the most recent transfer window closed on 1 September, they had generated £47m from sales. It put them 11th in the Premier League. Only Liverpool of their ‘big six’ rivals brought in less.

Since they sold striker Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan for £74m in 2019, United have only generated more than £25m for a player on four occasions – for Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay, Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho.

It was instructive this summer a series of young players were sold, either for a lower fee than anticipated in the cases of Radek Vitek and Toby Collyer, who joined Middlesbrough and West Brom respectively, or none, like defenders Tyler Fredricson and James Overy. In all cases though, the transfers included significant sell-on and buy-back clauses, which is part of a strategy by United to generate more revenue from player sales.

In June 2023, Premier League clubs voted to cap future leveraged buyouts at around 65% of a club’s value. The move seemed to be in response to ALK Capital’s takeover of Burnley in December 2020.

Many United fans feel the move was 18 years too late.

The negativity around Manchester City’s scandal has indirectly, shone a light on the situation at Old Trafford.

Given there is little realistic chance of the substantive debt being paid off, Berrada and his colleagues must navigate the tricky balance of keeping costs under control, trimming the outstanding transfer fees, not extending the revolving credit limit and funding a new stadium – all while spending enough to deliver on the pitch.

In 2017-18, United made £80m in prize money from their run to the Champions League quarter-finals. In 2024-25, they got £31m for reaching the Europa League final. In their recently negotiated shirt deal with Adidas, a £10m annual reduction is applied if the club miss out on reaching the Champions League.

When Carrick sends his team out against bottom-club Tottenham at Old Trafford on 10 October, they will be attempting to drag themselves up from 12th place in the table.

The overall target is undefined, but it is pretty clear Champions League qualification will be a significant part of it.

Learning from Arteta and inspiring youngsters - Wilshere on management

Jack Wilshere won the FA Cup with Arsenal as a player in 2014 and 2015 and guided Luton Town to the EFL Trophy in April.

In the seventh episode of the new season, Kelly Somers sits down with Luton Town manager Jack Wilshere.

Jack Wilshere’s footballing career has gone full circle.

From starting out at Luton Town aged seven, Wilshere went on to win trophies at Arsenal and represent England at two major tournaments, before having to retire early because of injury problems and moving into coaching.

Now, he is back where he began, at Luton, this time as manager.

Sitting overlooking the pitches he used to play on as a youngster, the 34-year-old spoke to BBC Sport’s Kelly Somers for The Football Interview and discussed his career - and how he hopes he can use his experiences to improve his players.

An exciting attacking midfielder with an ability to spot a pass or dribble past his opponent, Wilshere twice won the FA Cup with the Gunners.

He played in the Premier League 182 times and represented England on 34 occasions, appearing at both the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and the European Championship in France two years later.

But injuries plagued the latter part of his career, with him announcing his retirement at only 30.

However, there were no regrets.

“I loved it [my career], I’m really proud,” he said. “I got to play for my country and represent them at two major tournaments. OK, they didn’t go the way we wanted them to, but I got to do it. I scored for my country, I played for the club I loved growing up, so pride is the biggest thing.”

On 13 October it will be one year since Wilshere became Luton boss, his first senior management role - although he had been in interim charge of Norwich City for a two-game spell at the end of the previous season.

He has already won silverware in his time with the Hatters, guiding them to the EFL Trophy, beating Stockport County 3-1 at Wembley in April in front of a crowd of nearly 50,000.

“I’m 34 now and probably could still be playing,” he added. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute of playing, but I also really, really love this and I’m fortunate to start my [management] journey early. I’m really grateful to the club and the board for giving me that opportunity because they didn’t need to. I was a young coach wanting to make my first step into the game.”

Immediately after his playing career ended, he was invited back to Arsenal to coach their youngsters and instantly knew management and coaching was for him.

“I hear stories about people struggling in retirement and I retired on a Monday, and I was in with the [under] 18s on a Tuesday,” said Wilshere. “When I first went and walked through the door to coaching, I realised this is going to take over my life, and I need to commit myself to this if I want to improve.”

By that time Mikel Arteta, who had been Wilshere’s Arsenal team-mate for five years, was first-team manager.

Arteta guided the Gunners to the Premier League title in 2025-26, their first time as English champions in 22 years, and Wilshere felt the Spaniard had played a vital role in developing him as a coach.

“I got to see Mikel and how he coached and the influence he was having,” said Wilshere. “I would ask him questions, why he’s doing certain things, and I started to fall in love with it and how he started to prepare training sessions. I’d get an opportunity to practice that with the 18s in the afternoon and it was something I wasn’t that good at, and I felt uncomfortable at times.”

“I was influenced by Mikel, but then I had to learn how to teach. I had to learn how to get that across, how to plan a session and how to get the outcomes that you wanted. I played under some good coaches and was quite good at understanding what a coach wants, but I never dived into ‘why is he asking me to do that?’ Mikel really made that clear and I was lucky enough to have a relationship where I could say, ‘well, why do you want that?’ And he was open enough to share it with me.”

Not only did his former club Arsenal become English champions, but Wilshere gained extra satisfaction as he had coached defender Myles Lewis-Skelly, winger Ethan Nwaneri and midfielder Max Dowman during his time at the club’s academy.

Wilshere was only 16 when he made his Arsenal debut, and Dowman was 15 when he first played for the Gunners senior team, with Wilshere spotting his talent early on.

“Max played for my 18s team when he was 13,” added Wilshere. “I remember calling my dad because I played for the 18s when I was 14. I was like, ‘was 13 too young?’ In the first game we could clearly see that he was ready for it. And I remember calling my dad and saying, ‘you need to come watch this kid’. My dad did, and my dad’s very biased, as you could imagine. But even he said, ‘he’s better than you’.”

Wilshere, who is aiming to guide Luton to promotion to the Championship this season, felt one of his managerial strengths was being able to warn his young players of the perils of professional football.

Early in his career he had been pictured drinking and smoking, leading to criticism from then Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, but Wilshere said he learned from the experience and passes that knowledge on to his players.

“Yes, I made mistakes, but I also reflect on that,” said Wilshere, who also played for Bolton, Bournemouth, West Ham and Danish side AGF. “I had a manager that had high standards and he let me know that he was disappointed, but he also gave me another chance. You educate them, you let them know there’s a line and there’s things they can’t do. But also give them another chance. I believe in that.”

Wilshere’s man-management skills were shown when he delivered a passionate half-time team talk which then went viral on social media, as Luton trailed Reading 3-1 on the opening day of this season, only to recover and clinch a dramatic 4-3 win.

“You have to build that relationship with the players,” said Wilshere. “Players also want to have high standards. They want to be held accountable. Ever since day one, they’ve been all-in with what we’ve been trying to do. My idea is you have to work really, really hard. I want to give the players clarity in every single moment. I’d like to think I’m really hard-working, you have to be. You have to have a big love for the game because it takes over your life, which I do. Then if you have that blend and try and make it enjoyable for the players, there will be challenges along the way, but you’re on the right path.”

Yeovil sign striker Dean on permanent deal

Yeovil Town have signed striker Owen Dean from Farnham Town for an undisclosed fee on a deal until 2028.

The 22-year-old has moved up a division to play at fifth-tier Yeovil who currently sit sixth and inside the play-off places of the National League.

Dean scored 20 goals last season as Farnham achieved promotion to the National League South and started this campaign strongly in the sixth tier, scoring four times including in his final appearance for the club in last weekend’s 3-2 victory over Weston-super-Mare.

Man City confirm appeal against guilty verdict

Manchester City were found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges against them

Manchester City have confirmed they have lodged an appeal after an independent commission found the club guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations.

In a short statement, the club said the commission’s ruling contained “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe”.

Asserting its innocence, the club added it had filed “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence [that] exists in support of all of its positions” on Thursday evening.

Earlier on Friday, the Football Association said the verdict against City has “significant implications for the integrity of the game”.

In a statement, English football’s governing body added: “We are carefully considering the decision and its implications and will take action where appropriate.”

It was confirmed on Tuesday that City were found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

“As proceedings between the Premier League and Manchester City Football Club remain ongoing, we do not intend to comment further at this stage,” the FA added.

“We will, however, continue to monitor developments closely.”

The overarching powers the FA has could see the governing body launch its own investigation into the matter with the threat of further sanctions.

Sources told BBC Sport that City were expected to claim that key sponsorship deals were funded by the Abu Dhabi government, rather than the club’s owners, as part of an appeal.

However, City’s defence may be undermined by statements that major sponsor Etihad Airways gave to the United States government in 2015.

In response to the US Department of Commerce, Transportation and State during an investigation into state-owned airlines, Etihad Airways said: “The assertion that the Abu Dhabi government paid for Etihad’s sponsorship of English Premier League football club Manchester City is false. In 2011, Etihad and Manchester City entered into a 10-year sponsorship agreement, which included naming rights for Manchester City’s stadium. Etihad funded this sponsorship from its own liquidity.”

Etihad Airways later stated: “We are and have always been clear that we do not receive any subsidies from the Abu Dhabi government.”

The independent panel’s findings decided that City arranged “sham contracts” with a number of commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m.

The Premier League says City “systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade”.

The independent commission which studied the case found City “utilised devices” to “disguise the true extent of certain club liabilities”.

The findings have prompted the Treasury Committee, which is responsible for overseeing policies and administration of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), to ask whether the government department has requested the redacted documents contained within the commission’s report.

Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the cross-party group of MPs, said she would “welcome reassurance from HMRC that you are seized of the importance of these issues and the public interest in this case”.

The letter follows a report from the Tax Policy Associates which claims City failed to pay as much as £12m in unpaid tax because of a “sham” contract with former manager Roberto Mancini.

In addition to unpaid income tax and National Insurance, the report claims City could face a penalty charge that would take their liabilities to £24m.

The Business, Innovation, Science and Trade committee has called for stronger action on corporate accounting in a letter to the government and the Financial Reporting Council.

Committee Chair Liam Byrne said the findings suggested a “serious failure of security” and that “clubs complying with the rules need confidence that those rules are enforced fairly”.

Separately, it has emerged that City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak met with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds days before the club’s guilty verdicts were announced.

The BBC has been told that the club was not mentioned and that Al Mubarak was visiting in his capacity as CEO of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.

It is understood the pair’s discussions focussed on the UK’s relationship with the UAE including defence, security, intelligence and trade.

UK government sources argue it is “totally normal” for the business secretary to have these sorts of meetings.

The encounter was first reported by Bloomberg.

Additional reporting by BBC political correspondent Joe Pike.

The commission was made up of three people, each with many years’ experience in the legal field.

The appeal will now be heard in private by a new, three-person independent commission panel, each with a similar expert background in law.

One section of the Premier League regulations says that an appeal hearing should conclude within 12 weeks of it being heard, and a decision communicated within 30 days of that.

Twelve weeks from Thursday – when City say they lodged the appeal – would be 24 December.

But this timeframe can also be disapplied if deemed necessary, meaning it remains uncertain how long the process will actually take.

The relevant regulation was only added to the rule book this summer.

Previous precedent suggests that sanctions against City will only be imposed after a decision on the appeal, though this is not guaranteed.

There could therefore also be a second appeal later down the line, against any sanctions imposed on the club.

City will claim as part of their appeal that key sponsorship deals were funded by the Abu Dhabi government, rather than the club’s owners.

Owners Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) - a private investment company belonging to United Arab Emirates vice-president and deputy prime minister Sheikh Mansour - are said to have topped up the value of commercial deals as part of a “disguised funding scheme” to the scale of £830.69m.

This, it was argued, enabled the club to appear to comply with Premier League and Uefa financial rules.

Premier League rules allow state-owned bodies to sponsor clubs.

Etihad Airways has said it is considering legal action against the Premier League, claiming the release of the commission findings had “damaging implications… despite the airline not being named in the redacted published findings”.

The UAE’s state-owned national airline said it “categorically rejects any finding, conclusion or implication that suggests the airline has ever been involved in improper commercial arrangements”.

Etihad is owned by sovereign wealth fund L’Imad which is chaired by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the son of the UAE president.