Middlesbrough FC could replicate success that landed Aston Villa payday | OneFootball

Boro may have seen a lot of Morgan Rogers in January 2025 signing Morgan Whittaker.

Morgan Rogers is one of Middlesbrough's biggest transfer success stories in recent years, and Morgan Whittaker could follow in his footsteps.

Boro have very much moved towards a recruitment philosophy that is centered around identifying, purchasing, developing and then selling-on of young, talented players.

Head of football Kieran Scott has largely led this charge since he arrived at the football club in September 2021, and the Teessiders have seen some brilliant results.

Rogers has perhaps been the poster boy for Middlesbrough's new transfer model though, and should he enjoy a fruitful stay at the Riverside Stadium, Whittaker could well follow a similar journey.

Morgan Rogers turned Middlesbrough a quick and significant profit with Aston Villa sale

Having begun his youth career with West Bromwich Albion, Rogers signed for Manchester City in the summer of 2019.

Numerous loan spells would follow over the next few years, with the young forward spending time with Lincoln City in League One, as well as multiple Championship moves to West Brom, Bournemouth and Blackpool respectively.

However, despite a fruitful time in the third tier with the Imps during the second half of the 2020/21 season, Rogers hadn't truly shown that he was ready to make an impact at second tier level at each of his other stops.

So, when Middlesbrough signed him from Manchester City in the 2023 summer transfer window for around £1m, his arrival was very much seen as one for the future.

Rogers, however, had different ideas. He was ready to prove to himself, the club and the Boro faithful that he was in fact ready to really show what he could do.

Come the winter transfer window deadline day on 1 February 2024, the former England youth international had bagged seven goals and eight assists in 33 total appearances for Middlesbrough during the first half of the season, and that had caught the attention of Premier League side Aston Villa.

Unai Emery shelled out a reported £11m guaranteed fee, with an additional £5m in performance-related bonuses to bring him to Villa Park, as well as Boro negotiating a significant sell-on clause as part of the deal.

In just six months, Middlesbrough had turned a huge profit on Rogers, and set themselves up for yet another major payday in the future.

Morgan Whittaker shares a similar profile to Rogers - could explain why Middlesbrough splashed out on Plymouth star

Rogers provided Michael Carrick with a tall, rangy, athletic and powerful winger, who excelled at carrying the ball up the pitch, before utilising exquisite technique to lash the ball into the back of the net.

Whittaker definitely has proven himself to share a number of those traits too. Standing just over six-feet tall, the versatile wideman possesses excellent dribbling and shooting ability, having bagged 20 goals and eight assists for Plymouth in the 2023/24 season.

Like Rogers, Whittaker is also highly two-footed, and loves to drop into pockets of space in midfield to get on the ball before driving up the pitch.

Therefore, Middlesbrough may well have seen a lot of Rogers in him when it came to splashing out £5m plus £2.5m in add-ons for the Pilgrims star in the 2025 January transfer window.

So, despite the transfer fee being considerably higher, Boro will believe that should he reach his potential at the Riverside Stadium, the club can once again receive a sizeable profit on Whittaker in the future.