- Published
Three years before becoming Chelsea's £117m club-record signing, Morgan Rogers watched his value fall to just £1m and questioned whether he would make it at all.
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For Rogers, the transition from academy football to the men's game was not as seamless as he had hoped and, in his own words, it took a series of "difficult loans" for him to break through.
Bournemouth, who Chelsea face at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, were the first of two underwhelming Championship loan spells for Rogers, alongside a later stint at Blackpool, while he was a Manchester City player.
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In a recent interview with Chelsea's club channel, Rogers said that period taught him how to "take knocks".
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Asked what his rise through the EFL had taught him, he replied: "Everything."
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After a long pause, he added: "I needed that next challenge, to be taken out of my comfort zone and find the player I was going to be in professional football.
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"I think the academy player I was, if you watch me then, is not the same player I am now.
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I had to learn that on loan.
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"The one thing I learned when going through these difficult loans is that I couldn't care less what people say about me.
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I just care about what I can control."
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Rogers' value dropped from £9m to £1m
"I don't think there's such a thing as a bad loan," Rogers' first loan manager at Lincoln City, Michael Appleton, told BBC Sport.
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Appleton had worked in West Brom's academy and knew Rogers was one of the most highly rated prospects there.
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He made it his mission to bring him to Sincil Bank in League One.
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He remembers Rogers having a big personality and speaking up in team meetings despite arriving as an 18-year-old.
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The forward went on to score six goals and provide two assists in 28 appearances after joining shortly after lockdown.
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En route to the play-off final, which Lincoln lost to Blackpool, Appleton recalls one moment in particular.
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"We played Portsmouth away and they had three or four absolute units in the team," he added.
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"We were setting up for set-pieces and almost running out of players to pick up these giants.
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"Without any hesitation whatsoever, Morgan said: 'Make me a marker.
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I'll head the ball out of our box.'
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He was full of confidence because he was playing well, but he took the defensive side of the game just as seriously as trying to impact the opposition's box.
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However, after earning an opportunity in the Championship with Bournemouth, Rogers started only three matches and scored once under then-manager Scott Parker, whose side secured promotion back to the Premier League.
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Rogers had little impact and was described as a "slow burner" by former scout Des Taylor, who brought him in.
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He added: "You could see his ability having scouted him at Lincoln, but it wasn't clear what he would become.
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We saw his Lincoln loan spell turn him from a boy into a man.
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"He showed he could handle the physical side of things after coming from Man City's academy.
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Unfortunately, we signed him late in the window.
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We saw him as a number 10, but Parker was not really playing with a number 10.
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"I don't think it was a great time for him because he wasn't getting game time and, when he did, it wasn't in the position he wanted.
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It was no fault of Scott's, but it didn't work out."
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Former Bournemouth team-mate Steve Cook added: "Bournemouth had the opportunity to sign him permanently (reportedly for £9m) but it didn't work out.
"
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He didn't let it stop him.
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He was energetic away from the football pitch and I think that character has helped take him to where he is now.
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You need setbacks to make you hungry and appreciate what you've got.
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He worked hard, listened, had a willingness to learn and wanted to prove people wrong."
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Rogers' loan spell was cut short and he returned to academy football before an injury delayed his next move to Blackpool until the following January.
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The move reunited Rogers with Appleton in the Championship, but the manager was sacked after only two weeks and replaced by Mick McCarthy.
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Rogers made 20 appearances, both as a starter and substitute, scoring once as the Tangerines were relegated to League One after appointing a third manager in April.
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"Unfortunately, he played one game against Watford and then I got sacked.
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That wasn't great for either of us," Appleton added.
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"He'd been patient, I'd been patient while he recovered from his summer injury, we'd finally reconnected and then I was out of the building.
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…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
