It’s been almost impossible to pick a single flaw in Pep Guardiola’s management of Manchester City over the years.
Indeed, after six league titles, two treble wins, a Champions League trophy and countless memorable moments, Pep Guardiola will go down as the greatest City manager in history.
However, even the greats make mistakes every now and then.
Pep Guardiola made a mistake selling Cole Palmer back in 2023, while some have argued that Guardiola shouldn’t have sold Julian Alvarez last summer either.
City have got some of their transfer dealings wrong in recent years, and now, one decision that Guardiola made back in 2023 now looks inexcusable.
Pep Guardiola made a mistake selling Morgan Rogers
Pep Guardiola has got a lot right in his time managing Manchester City, but the decision to sell Morgan Rogers back in 2023 now looks utterly inexcusable.
Indeed, while the sales of Palmer and Alvarez could’ve been excused due to the sizeable fees City received for both players, £40m and £82m, City only got £1m for Rogers from Middlesbrough.
Guardiola explained that Rogers was sold due to the fact he wasn’t in a position to get a chance at City after the current crop of players was so successful.
“Do you know what happened? Some players were in a team who won the Treble and the Quadruple,” Guardiola said, via Manchester Evening News.
“It’s about the right tempo and the right time that can give a chance.
“Everybody knows how good Morgan is and a lot of players who we loan or sell are, but he was in that age where at that moment we had the players that we had that allowed us to create more success in eight years in the history of our club. Comparing to these 40 days are not good.
“At some point when they are arrive they are two or three years younger and there is Kevin in their prime and Bernardo and Riyad and Leroy and Raheem and sometimes it’s difficult. It’s the only reason why.
“This situation right now, of course these players would be with us but it was in the right moment. I’m happy for him because he’s a lovely guy and he exploded into a top class player. England have another exceptional player.”
Rogers would go on to establish himself at Middlesbrough before becoming an absolute star for Aston Villa over the past 18 months.
Morgan Rogers stats for Aston Villa
Rogers has been utterly brilliant since his re-arrival in the Premier League with Aston Villa.
Indeed, Rogers has established himself as a key player in this Villa side, and his stats over the past year have been exceptional.
| Morgan Rogers Premier League stats for Aston Villa | |
| Games | 38 |
| Goals | 10 |
| Assists | 5 |
Rogers is starring for Villa not only at Premier League level, but in the Champions League too.
The attacker has a Champions League hat-trick to his name this season, while he’s also made his England debut.
Of course, it’s very hard for a young player to break into the City team – as we’ve seen with the likes of Palmer and Romeo Lavia in recent years, but Rogers’ departure is perhaps the most baffling of the bunch.
Not only was Rogers sold for a minimal fee, he was let go before he even had a chance to play for City’s first-team.
Indeed, Rogers left City without playing a single senior minute for the club, and, looking back now, that seems utterly bizarre considering just how good the young attacker has become.
Selling talented young players for decent fees is something every club has to consider in the era of Profit and Sustainability Rules in the Premier League, but to sell Rogers for a mediocre fee before he’d even had a first-team chance was a misjudgement on City’s part for sure.
In another world, Rogers would be starring for Manchester City, and who knows? Perhaps this season would’ve worked out differently with Rogers in the side.
