Middlesbrough set for financial boost as Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers gets England call-up

Middlesbrough are set to profit further from the sale of Morgan Rogers after the Aston Villa forward was promoted to the England senior squad for the first time.

Rogers had been tipped to earn an England call-up this season as a reward for his fine form for Villa since joining from Boro in January. And with interim boss Lee Carsley hit with eight withdrawals from his initially announced group, Rogers stepped up from the Under-21's squad.

That is good news for Boro, who will receive extra money as part of a bonus clause inserted into the deal with Villa to sell Rogers. As well as an £11 million guaranteed fee, the deal Boro negotiated included £5m worth of performance-related bonuses as well as what was described as a 'big' sell-on fee percentage.

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The exact amount Boro will receive for Rogers' international honours is not known, though it's the second time this season they have profited from Rogers's fine form, having also inserted a clause regarding a Champions League appearance. It represents big profit on a player they signed from Manchester City for a little over £1m just six months before his unexpected exit.

Having wisely not spent much of the Rogers fee last January, and with confidence that the £5m worth of bonuses would be met in full this season, it played a big role in Boro being able to turn down big offers or bat away enquiries for other star players this summer, without worrying about falling foul of the league's profit and sustainability rules.

Rogers's England call-up comes as the 22-year-old has three goals and three assists for Villa so far this season - with praise coming from far and wide for the forward. That includes Boro boss Michael Carrick, who previously said he took immense joy seeing Rogers thrive after his short but swift period of huge growth on Teesside last term.

He could play Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland, who could feature former Villa man Finn Azaz, who joined Boro just a couple of weeks before Rogers's move in the other direction. Carsley's Rogers decision came after Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Levi Colwill, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden withdrew from the squad. James Trafford, Tino Livramento, Jarrad Branthwaite and Jarrod Bowen have also been added.