Shock Arsenal refusal to sign off £117m transfer revealed after matching request from playmaker

Morgan Rogers’ camp reportedly asked Arsenal to match Chelsea’s £117million transfer bid for his services this summer, as he actually favoured a move to Emirates Stadium, only to be denied the opportunity.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta identified Rogers as one of his top targets at the start of the summer, with Arsenal believed to be leading the race to secure his signature for much of the transfer window.

The reigning Premier League champions were willing to pay around £80m for the Aston Villa man at the time, who was heading off to the World Cup as part of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.

However, ended up blowing their London rivals out of the water with a stunning £117m deal to make Rogers the most expensive British player in Premier League history.

Rogers said he was joining the ‘biggest club in London’ after agreeing to the Stamford Bridge move but the Daily Mail says the Three Lions star actually wanted to join Arsenal instead.

The report adds that the player’s camp urged bosses at the north London club to match Chelsea’s record-breaking bid, while the Daily Telegraph claims Rogers was ‘ready to pack his bags’ and join Arsenal, only for the Gunners to decide he was not worth the fee that their London rivals were willing to pay.

Rogers has enjoyed a strong start to his Chelsea career, scoring and providing an assist in the first two Premier League games of the season.

After completing a stunning move to west London, the 23-year-old England star said: “I’m joining the biggest club in London.

“The way the club wants to go and how it wants to move forward is something I want to be a part of. I think it was just perfect for me. I just can’t wait to get going.

“I’m really excited about the project with the new manager, the players we’ve got and where the club is heading. That’s why I’m here and I can’t wait to get started.”

Rogers was the first of several targets that Arsenal failed to snap up during the summer window.

Top striker target Julian Alvarez had his heart set on a move to Barcelona, but ended up staying at Atletico Madrid, while they also flirted with a deal for Vinicius Junior, only for the Real Madrid winger to pen a new contract in Spain.

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Carragher shocked at Arsenal not moving for Barcola

The Gunners also refused to pay over the odds for new Liverpool signing Bradley Barcola, a move that surprised Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.

He told the Stick to Football podcast: “I’m happy it didn’t happen but I was looking at the Barcola thing.

“For me with Arsenal, left wing has always felt like where the drop is compared to [Bukayo] Saka, [Martin] Odegaard, [Kai] Havertz.

“The new kid [Christos] Tzolis has made a decent start. But the longer the Barcola thing went on, and then Arsenal didn’t get Vinicius Jr or Alvarez, I was thinking is that [signing Barcola] not the one?’

“I’m happy it didn’t happen but I was looking at the Barcola thing,’ Carragher said on the latest episode of Stick to Football.

“For me with Arsenal, left wing has always felt like where the drop is compared to [Bukayo] Saka, [Martin] Odegaard, [Kai] Havertz.

“The new kid [Christos] Tzolis has made a decent start. But the longer the Barcola thing went on, and then Arsenal didn’t get Vinicius Jr or Alvarez, I was thinking is that [signing Barcola] not the one?”

Meanwhile, Rogers is set to head-to-head with Arsenal this weekend, when Xabi Alonso’s side visit Emirates Stadium in the Premier League.

Chelsea will certainly be hoping that Rogers can be a lucky charm, having failed to beat Arsenal in their last 11 meetings.