rewrite this title Aston Villa may already be close to signing an “elite” Rogers replacement

Aston Villa’s name will not be etched on the FA Cup this season after a disastrous day out to Wembley at the semi-final stages saw Unai Emery’s Villans be humbled 3-0 by Oliver Glasner’s breathless Crystal Palace.

With no knock-out Champions League football on the menu now either, Villa’s sole goal rests on clinching a finish inside the Premier League’s top five to play amongst Europe’s elite once more.

Whatever does transpire, Villa could be facing a losing battle to keep Morgan Rogers situated at Villa Park past this season, with the rumour mill suggesting that the 22-year-old might be off very soon.

The latest on Morgan Rogers’ future at Aston Villa

Rogers isn’t the only notable first-team face that could soon be heading for the exit door, with reports also surfacing that long-standing Villa servant Ollie Watkins is a wanted man by Liverpool, Newcastle and Arsenal.

The Independent claims that Chelsea are the Premier League club sniffing around for Rogers’ services, on the other hand, with a worry that Emery’s side might have to sign off on this departure reluctantly, owing to PSR rules.

The electric number 27 has shone throughout the season both down the wing and as a number ten, so it should come as no shock that Enzo Maresca’s Blues are keen, considering they are also weighing up moves for Jamie Gittens and Ademola Lookman to revolutionise their attacking options.

But, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom at Villa Park if Rogers does up and leave this summer, with a move for this sensational wonderkid finally getting over the line somewhat lessening the blow.

The “elite” long-term Rogers replacement

Obviously, losing a player of the 22-year-old’s unbelievable quality wouldn’t be ideal, with Rogers now up to a blistering 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions this season from 50 clashes.

But, it could push Villa to go back out into the market to fish for their next up-and-coming talent in a similar vein to the ex-Manchester City youngster, with long-term target Sverre Nypan potentially ticking a lot of boxes in this regard. Indeed, recent reports from Fabrizio Romano last week suggest they are ‘closing in’ on an agreement for the wonderkid’s signing.

The Champions League aspiring outfit took an almighty risk on Rogers coming good when he joined the building for around the £15m mark just last year, only for him to now be worth around the gigantic £100m price range.

Therefore, Villa will hope another risky gamble on their end to land the 18-year-old Rosenborg sensation works out, considering the attack-oriented menace continues to take his native Norway by storm in a similar way to the newly-capped Englishman

Already off the mark for Rosenborg during their new Eliteserien campaign, Villa’s interest in the Norway U21 international would have been piqued before this, with his league numbers for his boyhood club last season also standing out massively.

Indeed, despite starting just 25 games, Nypan would close out the season with a weighty 15 goal contributions tallied up, leading to the likes of Arsenal also allegedly eyeing up the Nordic ace to try and claim their next version of Martin Odegaard.

In Villa’s case, landing Nypan’s signature would be all about trying to fill the potential void left behind by Rogers, with the teenager further showing himself to be a viable long-term replacement when you look at his adaptability to play as a striker, away from his usual midfield duties.

Hailed as an “elite potential talent” data analyst by Ben Mattinson just this year, it does seem like only a matter of time before a notable outfit takes a punt on Nypan, with Villa needing to exercise patience – much like they did with Rogers – to get the very best out of the Scandinavian starlet.