Chelsea were linked several times with a move for Aston Villa and England star Morgan Rogers in a busy summer transfer window. It turns out that the Blues actually considered a move for his club teammate on deadline day, too.
Morgan Rogers, 23, ended up staying at Villa Park despite the transfer speculation.
Chelsea sensed an opportunity to sign Rogers this summer, but nothing ever advanced for the talented attacking midfielder. Even though Blues head coach Enzo Maresca admires Rogers, he’s stayed put as a key part of Unai Emery’s squad.
The latest transfer development details that Chelsea weighed up moving to sign a different Villa star on Monday’s deadline day.
Chelsea considered Ollie Watkins on deadline day
Journalist Simon Phillips reports via Substack that Chelsea’s board were scrambling around on deadline day looking for a potential new striker signing.
He explains that the Blues considered an approach for Villa centre-forward Ollie Watkins during the final hours of the summer transfer window. However, they never made an official move for the 29-year-old England frontman.
At Chelsea, they ended up recalling Marc Guiu from his loan at Sunderland, while Nicolas Jackson left to join Bayern Munich on loan with an obligation to buy.
It would have been a remarkable last-minute move if Chelsea had stepped up interest in Watkins. The experienced Villa attacker doesn’t really fit the profile when it comes to new signings, though.
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Aston Villa | 226 | 87 | 42 |
| Brentford | 143 | 49 | 15 |
| Exeter City | 78 | 26 | 17 |
In September 2024, Watkins was on Chelsea’s transfer radar. While he’s clearly been a quality operator in the Premier League for many years now, perhaps it’s quite telling that he’s never made that move to one of the elite teams in the division.
Watkins, who turns 30 in December, is in the perfect place still with Villa.
Are Chelsea covered in the striker position?
Even though Chelsea supporters are a bit mixed on the current centre-forward situation, we’re fairly content.
Joao Pedro has proven he can shine as the No.9 since joining from Brighton. As mentioned above, Guiu is back at the club to provide a different alternative.
The exact timeframe on when Blues striker Liam Delap will be back from his hamstring problem is currently unknown, but Maresca initially said it could be six to eight weeks on the sidelines.
It feels like Chelsea have enough at the top end of the pitch. It’s in central defence and goalkeeper where we would have stressed more importance when the transfer market was still open.
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