CHELSEA have beaten Arsenal to Morgan Rogers — but it took an almighty effort to win the race.

Both clubs had been monitoring his situation since before LAST summer‘s transfer window, with Arsenal in regular contact throughout it.

At that point in time, a host of other top clubs were also in the equation, and his price tag was thought to be around the £70million mark.

An exploding market, a Europa League win and a World Cup jaunt with England has seen Rogers’ valuation almost DOUBLE to the eye-watering £117m fee Chelsea have agreed with Aston Villa.

But this deal was not just about money.

Despite the fact Arsenal had been laying the groundwork to swoop for Rogers for over a year, the saga is now set to end without the Gunners ever submitting a bid.

The £117m figure may have been unpalatable for Emirates chiefs but the underlying fact is that the green light they had been waiting for never arrived.

SunSport understands that Arsenal’s pursuit involved a direct chat with Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners boss made Rogers, 23, his top attacking target and laid out his vision for integrating him into the side.

But Xabi Alonso also spoke to Rogers personally— and delivered a stronger pitch.

The driving motivation behind Rogers deciding to leave Villa was to consistently push for major silverware.

There was a feeling that Villa were already operating at, or close to, their full capacity under Unai Emery by finishing in the top four and winning a European trophy last season. But it is telling that Rogers felt Chelsea would give him the best chance of achieving his goals after Arsenal’s Premier League win and run to the Champions League final last term.

Chelsea have flirted with signing the kind of experienced players their squad has been crying out for this summer.

And Alonso, 44, was one of the hottest managers in world football when he led Bayer Leverkusen through an unbeaten Bundesliga season in 2023/24, and then came unstuck, like many others have, at Real Madrid.

The Spaniard presented his Chelsea project to Rogers and the England man was convinced.

It is understood that Chelsea rate Rogers as a No10 but outlined that they plan to use him off the left wing — a position he played at Villa for large parts of last season.

That would allow him to slot into the same starting XI as close pal Cole Palmer, who plays in attacking midfield. —Sun.