“I wasn’t good enough” – Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers cites Manchester City adaptation issues to explain first-team regrets

Aston Villa and England midfielder Morgan Rogers has looked back on his time in the Manchester City academy and explained his struggles breaking into the first-team.

The 22-year-old is enjoying an incredible season for club and country, having led Aston Villa to the UEFA Champions League quarter-final as Unai Emery’s side also put up a fight to finish to finish in the Premier League top four.

Rogers has been in fine form for Emery and a mainstay for Villa in a season that will see the Birmingham club come up against Luis Enrique and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final in April.

After impressing in West Brom’s youth ranks, Rogers was signed by Manchester City in 2019 and the Halesowen-born midfielder joined the likes of Liam Delap and James McAtee to a bid to break into the first-team squad under Pep Guardiola.

However, Rogers failed to make the cut in City’s academy and after mixed fortunes in loan spells at Lincoln City, Bournemouth and Blackpool, he left Manchester City permanently to join Middlesbrough in the summer of 2023.

“I wasn’t good enough, simple as that. I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t ready to be there (at Manchester City), 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,” Rogers said on leaving City two years ago, in an interview with ITV Sport.

Rogers has scored 12 times and provided seven assists in 41 appearances for Aston Villa this season, with three goals and two assists in 10 Champions League games. He scored and was voted Player of the Match in Villa’s 2-1 win over City in the Premier League in December.

On his struggles breaking into Manchester City’s first-team, he said: “Adaptation, I think. I struggled, 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 – I found that very difficult being able to be me in a structured team that we had.

“At West Brom, it was more that I could be me and just play my game, whereas at Manchester 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.”

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