Morgan Rogers says Chelsea's £117million move from Aston Villa has brought the pressure he wanted. The Morgan Rogers interview is built around that point, and around his belief that the transfer has put him in a better place to matter for England too. Rogers said it was time for him to take that next step and next chapter.

Chelsea and the pressure he wanted

Rogers said he wanted to be judged on a bigger stage, and that Chelsea gives him exactly that. "It was time for me to take that next step and I feel like I want to be seen as one of the best players in the Premier League, one of the best players in the world. To do so, I needed to take that next step and that next chapter," he said.

He added: "I just feel Chelsea brings that different level of pressure of having to win and having to perform each game."

The early output has matched the talk. Rogers has 3 Premier League goals and 1 assist in 5 appearances, with a 7.55 rating across those matches. He has also already logged 443 Premier League minutes for Chelsea, which is a fair amount of football for a player still settling into a new club.

Palmer's absence and the Rice flashpoint

Rogers' England camp comments also came with Cole Palmer out of the squad on Monday, after he withdrew citing a minor muscular complaint. That gave his joke about being happy to have a break from Palmer an extra layer, even if he quickly softened it by saying, "I love playing with Cole."

The other recent flashpoint was the clash with Declan Rice at the Emirates. Rogers said, "It's just competitors competing and wanting to win. London derby, me getting absolutely dog’s abuse by the fans doesn’t help! All emotions come into one at that moment, but Dec and I are fine." He also said, "We spoke about it after the game. We're completely fine. It's just one of those things in football, we want to win."

For Chelsea, the move has already done what he wanted in one obvious way, it has put him under more pressure and given him a bigger platform. The real test now is whether that carries into the next run of England games, starting with the camp he has just joined.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →