Morgan Rogers is convinced Chelsea can once again compete for the top trophies and says he and Cole Palmer know exactly how to play together.
Rogers became the most expensive British player of all time when he joined Chelsea from Aston Villa straight after his World Cup exploits where he helped England reach the semi-finals and finish third in the tournament.
The 24-year-old scored on his debut in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Real Sociedad on Saturday.
“I’m just so excited,” Rogers told Sky Sports. “It was just an unbelievable summer.
“It’s probably the one summer where I didn’t mind that it was a short one. I love my rest, I love my time with my family but at the same time it was one where I was watching the pre-season games, itching to just get back in.
“I feel the excitement walking in every day. I feel the anticipation of not knowing where it can go. It can be good, it can be bad, but I feel a positive energy and a vibe. A fresh manager, a fresh change of environment, new players added and stuff – I feel that everyone’s excited to see where it can go and where we can take it.
“Obviously, everyone’s talking about it, who knows what we’re going to do? But that’s down to us and that’s the thing – we’ve got a confident group of players that believe in ourselves and believe in each other’s ability and our own.
Rogers scored for Villa in last season’s Europa League final and was also named player of the tournament
“Chelsea is a club that wants to win things. It’s a club that I’ve always grown up watching win titles, win Champions Leagues and I want to be in teams that do that as well.
“The players – the Hazards, the Drogbas, the Lampards coming through when I was growing up watching football. It’s a massive team and they were always winning and competing for titles and I want to be in teams that do that here.
“There’s a lot of players in that room that have the aspirations to do the same thing, so it’s exciting where we can take it.
“It’s about knuckling down now and proving people wrong who probably had a negative outlook on Chelsea in the last couple of years. I’m excited, I’m positive and I can’t wait really.”
Rogers: Palmer and I will get the best out of each other
The move to Stamford Bridge reunites Rogers with former club team-mate Cole Palmer.
Rogers joined Manchester City as a teenager from West Brom and played with friend and fellow attacker Palmer for City at youth level as well as on England duty.
Rogers said: “I’ve seen people saying, ‘how are you going to fit them in? How are they going to play?’
“We have completely different qualities. He’s more of a passer, a linker, a combiner. He’s like an artist in the way he moves with the ball and plays with it.
“I’m more direct, more straight line and more physical. We’re completely different and that offsets really well.
“I’ve known his game, he’s known my game since we were what, 14? We’ve played with each other at England and stuff like that, so we know exactly how to play with each other and to get the best out of each other.
Rogers played regularly on the left wing and at No 10 for Aston Villa in the Premier League in 2025/26
“Some people might not know how it looks like, but we do. We know how it looks, we’ve done it before. People will pit us against each other, but we’re on the same team now and it’s about winning and getting the best out of each other, and I think we’ll do that.
“Off the pitch always helps on the pitch – and playing with one of your closest friends always [helps] bring the best out of each other in a competitive way of wanting to kind of outdo each other. But there has to be a line of the team comes first, and winning comes first, and that’s always been our biggest thing.”
‘I’ve got a lot more to come’
Rogers’ statistics while playing centrally or on the left last season
Rogers knows his price tag brings inevitable pressure, but trying to be the main man for club and country is something the forward says he relishes.
“This is what I live for. These are the conversations I want to be in,” Rogers said.
“I want to be the topic of discussion when talking about games I’m involved in or England selections.
“I want to be in those conversations – sometimes on the good end of it, sometimes on the bad end of it – but if I’m in those conversations I’m doing something right.
“This summer I was getting into that and I was getting a taste for it of what it feels like. I know I’ve got a lot more to come and I like that pressure of it being on me where I’ve got the keys to decide how I’m spoken about in those conversations.
“If I’ve got the kind of say in what happens and what comes next then I’ll be confident in myself to be on the right end of it.”
