Struggling Aston Villa star ‘not interested’ according to former England striker

Aston Villa attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers has been slammed by a former England and Villa striker who’s questioned his attitude.

Villa have won their last two matches, one despite a poor showing from Rogers and one in part because he started to find his feet again. Rogers endured a low point in Thursday’s Europa League victory over Bologna but had the vocal backing of the Villa Park faithful in Sunday’s win against Fulham in the Premier League.

Rogers isn’t the only player to have had a difficult start to the season. Striker Ollie Watkins has come in for some criticism too and was clearly thrilled to get off the mark with Villa’s equaliser after going behind against the Cottagers.

Darren Bent, an ex-Villa forward who might know a thing or two about sudden drop-offs in performance levels, tried to explain why the cases of Watkins and Rogers are different during a recent appearance on talkSPORT.

“Watkins has got no confidence, and you can see that. But Morgan Rogers looks like he is not interested, and I think once – fans are quite quick; when they see a player not quite running or doing what they were doing last season, they go, ‘Hold on, what’s going on here?’

“Well, he was linked to some big clubs, and maybe he was thinking, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t mind one of them,’ and it hasn’t happened. And that’s why maybe he’s throwing his toys out of the pram a little bit. Because he was good for England. So he’s the one I look at and go ‘come on’ because I think he’s a fantastic young player.”

Will Rogers return to form?

Bent is of course making an enormous leap to draw a conclusion about a situation that’s nothing to do with him involving a player he doesn’t know, but Rogers is going to have all sorts thrown at him until he gains a foothold again.

Rogers was one of Villa’s most important players last season, helping them to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League and to qualify for the Europa League. The former Middlesbrough man registered 14 goals and 16 assists in all competitions and was even named PFA Young Player of the Year.

He was linked to a number of Premier League clubs in the summer transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea reportedly chief among them. Villa shut down any pursuit despite the massive fees mentioned in the media.

There was talk towards the end of the transfer window that Villa were keen to negotiate a contract extension with Rogers despite his current deal not expiring until the summer of 2030, keeping Villa in control whether they decide to keep him or sell him next summer.

Rogers needs to improve his fortunes on the field to make that a matter of any importance at all, and indeed to maintain his hopes of being included in the England squad for the World Cup next year.

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