Pep Guardiola admits he let an ‘exceptional’ player leave Manchester City when he sanctioned Morgan Rogers’ exit from the Etihad Stadium.
Rogers joined Man City at the age of 17 but never made an appearance for the senior team before being sold to Middlesbrough in 2023.
The 22-year-old had loan spells at Lincoln City, Bournemouth and Blackpool before Manchester City decided to offload him on a permanent transfer.
An impressive season in the Championship with Boro earned Rogers a £15m move to Aston Villa last summer and he has kicked on since joining the Premier League.
Rogers has been one of Villa’s best and most important players this season, helping Unai Emery’s side reach the knockout stages of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
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His form this season – which included scoring a Champions League hat-trick – has earned his four caps for England and a place in Thomas Tuchel’s first Three Lions squad.
Rogers will have a point to prove when he faces his former club Man City on Tuesday night in a huge game in the battle for Champions League football.
Manchester City are currently fifth in the final Champions League spot, one point above seventh-placed Aston Villa.
Discussing his former player Rogers, Guardiola said: ‘He was in the second team, and trained sometimes with us, and we could see something there.
‘But the impact he’s had in Villa, what a player, we had an exceptional player here, absolutely.’
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On the threat of Aston Villa, who were recently knocked out of the Champions League by PSG, Guardiola added: ‘They are a contender to qualify for the Champions League.
‘You see both games [against PSG], they play against my friend Luis Enrique, wow, I was really, really impressed.’
Rogers is not the only player to thrive since leaving Manchester City, with the likes of Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Julian Alvarez also impressive since being sold by the reigning Premier League champions.
Earlier this year Guardiola was warned he let a ‘future Ballon d’Or winner’ leave the Etihad Stadium in Alvarez, now at Atletico Madrid.
Man City boosted their Champions League hopes by winning their last two games against Everton and Crystal Palace.
It will be interesting to see how Guardiola uses Jeremy Doku after saying his treatment of the Belgian winger has been ‘so unfair’.
‘I’ve been so unfair with him in the last games, because I remember the games against Spurs away and Brighton, for example,’ Guardiola said.
‘Without him it would not be possible, but the only reason that they have not played lately is because we didn’t attack in the last games, with wingers – we were more full-backs wide, and more players in the middle like Bournemouth.
‘But it’s only my reason. I feel sorry for him and for other ones. Jeremy in the final third is unstoppable.
‘He’s an incredible, incredible football player, and I’m really pleased that today he played really good.’
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