Chelsea have done their job; BlueCo have put their money where their mouth is, and now, Morgan Rogers has to repay the faith placed in him. The pressure is firmly on his shoulders.
A £117m buy, Rogers has the pressure of being England’s most expensive footballer to deal with. Not only is he Chelsea’s record signing, but only Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Alexander Isak have cost more.
With his best mate Morgan Rogers announced, how many goals and assists does Cole Palmer get this season?👀
With BlueCo appearing to change, Xabi Alonso in the dugout and Chelsea only focusing on domestic matters next season, there is optimism around West London that the Blues can have a good season.
Well, Rogers will have to handle the pressure, and even more so after Chelsea announced he will be wearing his signature no.17. Andrey Santos’ move to Man United has left the 17 shirt vacant.
Some of Chelsea’s best have worn the no.17 shirt
Santos didn’t make a huge impact during his short-lived time at Stamford Bridge. But some of Chelsea’s previous no.17’s are among the club’s legends. Eden Hazard for example, was one of Chelsea’s best.
The Belgian remains one of Chelsea’s modern-day legends after his stint at Chelsea, a four-time Player of the Season winner at Chelsea. A one-time Premier League POTS, he wore 17 initially before wearing 10.
Petit finished his career at Chelsea, while Bosingwa, Mateo Kovacic and Pedro all wore the shirt. Even Mo Salah wore the 17 shirt during his ill-fated Chelsea spell before moving to Roma and then to Liverpool.
However, there have been some failures – Saul Niguez, Raheem Sterling, just to name a couple. Rogers will hope to be more Hazard than Sterling in a Blues shirt, after putting pen to paper on a deal until 2033.
If Rogers produces his 25-26 form, he’ll be a Chelsea star
Chelsea’s attackers were underwhelming last season. Only Joao Pedro can say he had a good season, having a hand in 20 Premier League goals and finishing the campaign as Chelsea’s Player of the Season.
Bielsa’s Leeds system is perfect for Rogers and Palmer 🔥
The second back of four is not a midfield, but an attacking quartet.
Cole Palmer struggled, while Alejandro Garnacho, Pedro Neto, Jamie Gittens and even Estevao will have felt they could have done better. Rogers, from the 10 role, managed 16 Premier League goals and assists.
If he produces the same amount for Chelsea, he’d have finished with the second-highest goals and assists among Chelsea’s attackers last season. If he manages to do that in 26-27, he’ll be worth the £117m fee.
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