Middlesbrough earn record windfall from Morgan Rogers clause in £117m transfer

When the club agreed to sell him to Aston Villa, all the way back in February 2024, for £16m, Boro inserted a 20 per cent sell-on clause, on any profit generated from a future transfer, in the England international's contract.

The club had already profited handsomely from the initial sale, after buying him from Manchester City for just £1.5m at the start of the 2023-24 campaign. However, things are only going to get better for the club, as they will also see a huge slice, potentially a world record, of the transfer fee Villa take in.

Head of football Kieran Scott had previously teased a huge windfall when Rogers was linked with Arsenal. Scott said: "I won’t say what amount.

"But there’s a good sell-on for the club. It would end up being a great signing for someone who played for 5 and a half months for us.”

Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg will certainly appreciate the extra cash injection. The club has already sold Hayden Hackney to Everton for £16m and said goodbye to Dael Fry and Dan Barlaser, who joined Birmingham City and MK Dons as free agents.

There have already been some arrivals with Kyle Joseph arriving from Hull City, Myles Peart-Harris moving to the club from Oxford United as a free agent and Jeremy Sarmiento returning to the club on a permanent deal, having spent last season on loan at the Riverside Stadium.

Last week, Hellberg outlined the kind of characteristics he wants the club to invest in. With the potential windfall from Rogers' move to west London, it appears they will have more money to play with.

Hellberg said: "We need to take a step to make it a bigger squad. Our squad wasn't deep enough last season, everyone saw that. I'm not hiding from that, I think that's common ground for everyone.

"But that doesn't mean you have to sign 11 players, that can also be giving the young kids the preparation to get there. Then adding pace.

"I think could see that in the final. The worst thing that happened to us was Tommy [Conway] didn't play. If there was one player you wouldn't take away for the final, it was Tommy.

"We need to have more than one player with that pace. I hope and I think the squad will be stronger as a unit when we start."