Explained: How Aston Villa are using Manchester City transfer deal to spoil Arsenal’s plans

Aston Villa are now reportedly using the Elliot Anderson transfer fee as a benchmark in their efforts to keep hold of Arsenal target Morgan Rogers.

The summer transfer window has already seen some huge spending by Premier League clubs, with Anderson moving from Nottingham Forest to Manchester City for £116m.

That’s the fee that’s been reported by BBC Sport and others, while we’ve also seen Tottenham spend big on Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

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Still, it’s the Anderson deal that seems to be hurting Arsenal’s hopes of signing Rogers, according to Football Insider.

Pete O’Rourke, speaking on Football Insider’s podcast, made it clear that Villa are now using Anderson as a benchmark as they ask for as much as £130m for Rogers.

Morgan Rogers price shoots up because of Elliot Anderson

“Villa are in a strong position here. He will only leave on their terms, because he’s under contract until 2031 and they are demanding around a fee of 130 million pounds to even consider letting Rogers go,” O’Rourke said.

“They are using the benchmark fee that’s been spent on the likes of Elliot Anderson this summer.”

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The Telegraph have also previously reported that Villa could demand as much as £130m for Rogers, which seems like crazy money and surely more than Arsenal can afford.

Then again, perhaps if players like Anderson and Tonali are worth £100m-plus, then it’s only fair that a talent like Rogers is also talked about in those terms.

The England international is currently at the World Cup and one imagines that will delay his future being resolved, though Arsenal fans will surely hope there’s a possibility of bringing him to the Emirates Stadium this summer.

Mikel Arteta could do with an upgrade on Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard on the left-hand side, with the latter of those two also looking close to leaving for Besiktas, as we reported first and which has since been confirmed by the Athletic.