Arsenal to make Rogers approach; Villa demand £100m-plus

Sky Sports says the Gunners have tagged Rogers, 23, as their main man up front. This, after England's World Cup dreams got crushed. Also, Arsenal's already agreed to offload Christos Tzolis. So, they need someone.

Villa? They're not letting him go cheap. Or easily. The Midlands club is eyeing north of £100m. Why so high? Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali already bolted this window. Rogers himself only signed a new deal last November, locking him in until 2031. Villa holds all the cards, folks. They know it.

Of course, it's never simple. Manchester United, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain are all sniffing around the England international too. Rogers put up solid numbers last season: 14 goals and 11 assists from 55 games. He even played five times at the World Cup. Remember that semi-final against Argentina? He assisted Anthony Gordon's goal. Not bad.

Mikel Arteta sees Rogers as a winger. Not a pure striker. Arsenal's already got Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze. Leandro Trossard's off. So, the left side needs shoring up. Rogers spent nearly half his Premier League time at Villa out on the left wing. That was under Unai Emery's notoriously flexible attack. Good fit, in theory.

The kid, 23, can play. Anywhere. He was a winger at Lincoln City. Played as a false nine at Middlesbrough. Even lined up on the right for England in that World Cup semi-final. So, fitting into Arsenal's left wing? Even with an attacking midfielder's pedigree? Shouldn't be a problem.