£117 million, or $156.5 million. That is the number that has just rewritten the record books in British football. Chelsea have prised 23-year-old forward Morgan Rogers away from Aston Villa, clearing the £116 million mark Elliot Anderson set only a few weeks earlier. The fee has never been confirmed officially, yet the reporting around it is unanimous on that historic figure.
For the London club it is an internal record broken as well. Moisés Caicedo's £115 million arrival, until now the most Chelsea had ever paid for anyone, belongs to the past. The outright Premier League record still stands elsewhere: Alexander Isak's £125 million.
Rewind two years and Rogers was leaving Middlesbrough for Aston Villa for a mere £8 million. Today he is one of the most expensive footballers on the planet. The record is gone. Twenty-one goals in 85 appearances for Villa and a Europa League title, the trophy for winning Europe's second-tier club competition, were only the beginning. Then came third place with England at the World Cup that has just finished, and his price climbed higher again.
Arriving at his new club, the player did not bother hiding what he felt. "I'm so excited. For me, Chelsea are the biggest club in London and a club I've always admired since I was a kid," Rogers said on completing the move.
For Xabi Alonso this is the third major signing of the summer, a clear signal that last season's tenth-place finish is not something the club intends to live with. Tellingly, the deal runs until 2033. Chelsea have handed their future to Morgan Rogers and staked a historic maximum on him.
