Middlesbrough look set to lose one of their key players ahead of their meeting with Sunderland this weekend.
Sunderland will be desperate to get revenge in the Tees-Wear derby after enduring a 4-0 hammering in the reverse fixture.
Dan Neil’s controversial red card resulted in a second-half collapse by the Black Cats, with Sunderland academy graduate Sam Greenwood going onto score the opener.
Michael Beale will be eager to make it back-to-back wins for the first time since he joined the club, but their record at the Riverside Stadium isn’t very promising.
Sunderland have only won on one of their last seven trips to Teesside and have lost the last four – scoring none and conceding five.
However, the visitors may be handed a boost this weekend as Middlesbrough look set to be without star man Morgan Rogers.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Rogers is on his way to Aston Villa before tomorrow’s deadline.
He wrote on X: “Morgan Rogers, set to complete medical at Aston Villa today then he will sign the contract. It’s gonna be five-year deal for Rogers who’s joining on permanent deal from Boro, as revealed yesterday.”
The ‘terrific’ 21-year-old joined Middlesbrough from Manchester City in the summer and has since really impressed, netting seven goals and providing eight assists in all competitions.
Rogers took a while to get into the swing of things under Michael Carrick, but has now played the full 90 minutes in Boro’s last seven games that he was available for – bagging five goal contributions.
How important is Morgan Rogers to Middlesbrough?
Middlesbrough have struggled with consistency recently, winning four of their last ten matches in the Championship.
They sit only three points behind Sunderland, but Morgan Rogers absence could prove to be a major obstacle for the hosts this weekend.
Despite only starting half of their games in the second tier this term, the attacker has the third-most key passes in the squad (37) and the second-most successful dribbles (27), as well as the highest shot accuracy (71%).
There is still over 24 hours left of the transfer window though and Sunderland will be hoping they don’t suffer an even bigger absence, with Jack Clarke still on the radar of Lazio.