Arsenal's pursuit of a creative force in the final third appears to be narrowing, and the trail is leading straight to a claret and blue shirt. Mikel...
Arsenal's pursuit of a creative force in the final third appears to be narrowing, and the trail is leading straight to a claret and blue shirt. Mikel Arteta, forever the obsessive when it comes to tactical versatility, has his sights set on Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa. The 23 year old, once a raw diamond at Manchester City's academy, has matured into one of the Premier League's most difficult attacking midfielders to handle. Power, direct running, and an eye for a killer pass have turned him into the kind of player who makes a low block look a little less inviting.You have to admire the evolution of Rogers. He is not your typical number ten who hides in pockets of space. No, this is a player who loves to pick up the ball on the half turn, drive at a retreating backline, and commit defenders. For all the talk of Arsenal needing a clinical finisher, there is another pressing issue: the inability to break down sides that simply sit in. Saka is double marked. Odegaard gets crowded out. Martinelli runs into traffic. What Rogers offers is a different kind of threat. He is a battering ram with a footballer's brain, equally capable of running through a challenge or slipping a clever ball in behind.This rumour, brought to our attention by GoalZaza, suggests a serious shift in Arteta's thinking. The manager has always valued technical security above all else, but maybe he is starting to see the value of a bit of chaos. Someone who can take a game by the scruff of the neck and just drive at the heart of a defence, without needing four triangles of possession to create space. Rogers is that player. He offers Arsenal tactical flexibility: you can play him off the left, through the middle, or even as a second striker in a fluid front four. It is the kind of signing that makes the squad both deeper and more unpredictable.Of course, Aston Villa are not going to let him go without a fight. Unai Emery, a man who knows all about the Emirates pressure cooker, will drive a hard bargain. But if Arsenal are serious about bridging the gap to Manchester City, they need players who can produce moments of individual brilliance in those tight, squeaky bum time matches. Rogers could be that solution. He is not the finished article, nobody at 23 is, but the raw ingredients are there. The physicality. The drive. The ability to make something happen when the game gets stale.So is this the missing piece of the puzzle Arteta seems to think so. If GoalZaza's information holds true, expect the noise around this deal to get louder as the summer window creaks open. Arsenal need a player who can force the issue, and Rogers might just be the man to do it.
