Alonso hails Rogers as 'key player for seven years' ahead of Chelsea's clash with Arsenal

Xabi Alonso has publicly lauded Morgan Rogers just days before Chelsea host Arsenal, the club Rogers was strongly linked with before his £117m move to Stamford Bridge in July.

The Chelsea head coach used his pre-match press conference to underline the scale of the signing. “For sure, Morgan was a big, big one to get a player of his stature — in the present and future,” Alonso said. “He will be a key player for the next six, seven years. He’s had a great impact.”

The 24-year-old England international has backed up that assessment with an immediate contribution, scoring on his debut in Chelsea’s opening-day win over Fulham and adding an assist in the 4-3 victory against Brighton.

Arsenal’s failure to land Rogers has drawn sharp criticism from club legend Ian Wright. Speaking on Stick to Football, Wright said the Gunners did need the midfielder and expressed frustration at how the summer window unfolded.

“It’s not a disastrous window but if I’m Mikel [Arteta], I wouldn’t be happy with how this window has gone simply because we’ve gone another window where we have not got that forward,” Wright said. “Mikel has talked about getting players to take us to that level — he did it again after Paris, where we didn’t have that player to break them. That is the player Mikel wanted. They chased Vini until the end of the earth and left Morgan Rogers dangling.”

Wright suggested Arsenal’s prolonged pursuit of Vinícius Júnior may have undermined their chances of securing Rogers. “If you’re a player and you see a team going for him, you think, ‘I thought they were interested in me?’” he said. “Chelsea thought, well if you’re not going to pay it, we’ll pay it. I’m gutted, I would have loved him to come.”

Arsenal did spend significantly elsewhere during the window, bringing in Christos Tzolis, Bruno Guimarães, Ezri Konsa, and Piero Hincapié. But with Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, and Kai Havertz all returning to fitness, Arteta’s squad heads into the weekend fixture without the attacking difference-maker Wright believes they needed — and now face him on the other side.