Can Morgan Rogers avoid the same fate at Chelsea's as so many other England stars?

Morgan Rogers is now the most expensive British footballer of all time following the completion of his move from Aston Villa to Chelsea. 

The England forward signed in a £117m club record deal for the Blues, allegedly turning down advances from Premier League champions Arsenal to choose a switch to Stamford Bridge. 

Rogers has turned his back on Champions League football in favour of Chelsea, where a career with the club has suddenly become a risky move for young English talent. 

In recent times, a slew of English names have treaded the same path, but is a move to West London always a beneficial one? 

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Changing the game 

Chelsea's penchant for recruiting the best English players isn't a new thing and can be traced back to where it all began for the club we know now, when Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003. 

With his riches came the chance to recruit many of the game's biggest names, but these weren't just the Claude Makele's and Arjen Robben's of that era, there was a clear focus on the best England had to offer, too. 

France Lampard had already been recruited for big money two years prior, and with John Terry already on the books from the academy, the Blues went on a mission to surround those two names with more homegrown talent. 

Glen Johnson was the first, the man who signalled the start of Abramovich's spending, but he was followed by Joe Cole, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Scott Parker as young English players ready to step up a level both domestically and internationally under a new regime led by Jose Mourinho. 

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By and large, this was a successful process for Chelsea and the England national team. Under Mourinho, the slew of Englishmen would win Premier League titles and cup honours and go on to form the bedrock of the Three Lions teams during the 'golden generation' - especially when you add in Ashley Cole, too. 

Some were bigger hits than others. With the two Coles, Bridge and Lampard regular members in Chelsea's first team, while Parker and Wright-Phillips had their moments before moving on to pastures new. 

Fast forward twenty years though, and although the 'process' has remained somewhat similar, the success hasn't been the same. 

Stockpiling the stars

Chelsea have continued to always and recruit the best English talent. Yet, since that era of Lampard, Terry and Cole, it feels like the formula has become too knee-jerk and, with a fear of missing out, that has at times been a real detriment to the player and his career trajectory. 

You can reel out a list of names that have been signed by the West Londoners that looked like the right idea at the time, but the move has proved to be a derailment that most haven't been able to recover from. 

Danny Drinkwater was a Premier League winner before his career ended with his Chelsea spell, while Ross Barkley's upward trajectory also flattened so much that it took an eventual move to Luton to get him anywhere near the player he was in his early days at the Bridge. 

Ben Chilwell looked like being England's left-back for years to come, but things fizzled out for him quite quickly, and last year Liam Delap was signed but was a shadow of the player who had bullied top-flight defences with Ipswich and already looks like being surplus to requirements. 

In more recent times, the tact has changed slightly, and the focus has been on the more young English names rather than the established Premier League up-and-comers - but it has unfortunately come with the same results. 

Can the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka, Jamie Gittens or Tosin Adarabioyo say their careers have gained much from the stop-start ride they've had at Chelsea so far? It certainly hasn't benefited their international ambitions, that's for sure. 

Ironically, it's from their own academy that Chelsea's English players have fared much better. With Reece James, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham all establishing themselves for club and country after coming through the system rather than being brought into it.

Cold brothers 

Perhaps the one exception to this rule has been Cole Palmer. Palmer is the one English player who, having signed for Chelsea, has flourished and evolved in his London surroundings. 

His rapid rise saw him elevated to the England squad and actually scored for the Three Lions in the Euro 2024 final, as well as winning individual honours domestically. 

Yet, even he has suffered from the clouds that seem to surround English players signed by the Blues.

Having plundered 25 and 18 goals in his first two seasons at the club, last season saw a frustrating drop in form and fitness that saw him score just 11 times and eventually miss out on a World Cup spot.

He'll need to bounce back this campaign to ensure it was a blip rather than a downward curve. 

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Of course, with the majority of these players, there are mitigating circumstances. Since Abramovic, Chelsea have far from been a settled club and two decades on, it's only gotten worse. 

Players will struggle in a constant flux of new systems, new managers and lack of direction, which makes the desire to go there even more puzzling from a young English player's point of view. 

However, it can't be denied that there is a trend that needs to be reversed for these English names. Will Morgan Rogers buck that trend and join forces with old pal Palmer and take Chelsea back to the days of Terry and Lampard?

For the sake of their careers and the prospects of Thomas Tuchel's England, let's hope so.

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