Middlesbrough and Sunderland rivalry reignites as Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers fires angry message

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Former Middlesbrough star Morgan Rogers has been making headlines for his off-field comments rather than his football of late.

Rogers is one of many top English talents to perfect their craft in the Championship before moving onto the Premier League.

Middlesbrough signed the attacker from Manchester City for a fee in the region of £1.5m in 2023, and sold him to Aston Villa for a reported £16m only months later.

North East rivals Middlesbrough and Sunderland share a fierce rivalry, which has been resurgent on social media after the Villa ace slammed the Black Cats following their 1-1 draw on Sunday.

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Morgan Rogers slams Sunderland social media post after Trai Hume tackle

In his Boro days, Rogers got the better of Sunderland on his only Wear-Tees derby, after notching an assist in Middlesbrough’s 4-0 win at the Stadium of Light back in October 2023.

On Sunday, Rogers returned to Wearside, this time as an Aston Villa player during their 1-1 draw in a fiercely contested Premier League clash.

Sunderland went down to ten men just after the half-hour mark following Reinildo Mandava’s instant dismissal for an altercation with Matty Cash.

As a result, the Black Cats were forced to defend even more resolutely against the Villa attack to secure a point, with former Boro starlet Rogers involved in a heavy tackle with Trai Hume.

Championship onlookers will be no strangers to his trademark tackle after Hume’s challenge on Ben Brereton Diaz in the play-off final clash with Sheffield United.

Against Villa, Hume went for an extremely firm but fair sliding tackle on Rogers, which left the England star in a heap.

After Sunderland clipped up the crunching tackle on their social media channels, Rogers replied by saying: “Great message to send out. Dangerous tackles getting highlight reels.”

Given the animosity between the regional rivals, many Middlesbrough fans on social media claimed that Hume should have been sent for the tackle on their former player.

However, the Black Cats faithful disagreed on social media, poking fun at Rogers for his response.

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How much Middlesbrough will bank when Aston Villa sell Morgan Rogers

Former West Brom youngster Rogers was in outstanding form for Villa last season in his first full campaign under Unai Emery.

Rogers scored 14 goals and notched 13 assists in 54 games for Villa as they finished sixth in the Premier League table.

As a result, Chelsea were interested in Rogers during the summer transfer window, with Birmingham Live also reporting that Middlesbrough hold a 20% sell-on clause regarding Rogers.

Transfermarkt report that Rogers’ current market value is around £48m, but in the modern football market, it would take a substantially higher fee for Villa to part ways with the Englishman.

If Rogers enjoys another stunning season and Villa sell him in next year’s summer window, Boro will bank an eight-figure windfall.