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Jude Bellingham (left), Morgan Rogers (centre) and Morgan Gibbs-White (right) have all been called up by England - Getty Images/Eddie Keogh
Just five miles separate the birthplaces of Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers, the England team-mates who have combined friendship with a local rivalry that could end up with them battling for a place in the Champions League final this season.
Both have quarter-finals to get through but could face each other in a semi-final that would see Bellingham, the former Birmingham City midfielder, play at Aston Villa for the first time. “I don’t think he’d enjoy going to Villa Park much,” admitted Rogers. “He’s played everywhere but he’s never played there.”
Meeting to contest a place in the biggest final in club football would see the pair come full circle after facing each other in youth football around the Birmingham area while Rogers was at West Bromwich Albion. With Stafford-born Morgan Gibbs-White also called up, Thomas Tuchel has a trio of Midlands maestros as his creative forces in central midfield.
Bellingham is expected to be Tuchel’s No 10 as he shapes his team for next year’s World Cup, although Rogers and now Gibbs-White could supplement a midfield when England need to attack.
Rogers and Bellingham were team-mates at England Under-15 training camps, but when they got back to their clubs they found themselves competing in midfield.
“He was playing an age group up when we were with England,” said Rogers. “Before that, from when I was at West Brom, playing against Birmingham, [there was] that rivalry in midfield.
“I remember there was a floodlit tournament when we were Under-15s. We had Birmingham in our group so we played them home and away. He’s always had a mouth on him! I remember that one vividly, I always bring it up to him. He’s never beaten me.”
The journey for the two players from that moment could not be more different. While Bellingham went to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, Rogers tried to kick-start his career with loans at Lincoln City, Bournemouth and Blackpool, before catching Villa’s eye while playing in the Championship with Middlesbrough.
At Villa, he has thrived under Unai Emery, with the Spaniard praising or asking for more when Rogers has least expected it. “That is where he’ll catch you out with it, telling you about yourself,” said Rogers.
“For me personally, I wouldn’t change it. Because it’s what you need sometimes. When you’ve had a few good games, sometimes you might not be as at it, that one per cent. He will make sure that one per cent is nipped in the bud straight away.”
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Rogers is thriving under Unai Emery - Getty Images/Charlotte Wilson
With intense competition for a place in England’s attacking midfield areas, Gibbs-White has added a different dimension. Another Midlands golden boy, he has gone from Wolverhampton to Nottingham and is now within sight of Champions League qualification with Forest.
“Morgan can do everything as a midfielder,” said Rogers. “He can control a game. The way Forest play is different to the way a lot of teams play. He can play on the counter-attack, he can play in tight spaces. He’s a leader.”
Another player to use the Midlands to get into the England frame is Marcus Rashford, who has earned a recall after his January move to Villa. “Everyone is scared of everything he can do and we are now a completely different team, he has a lot of direct one v ones,” said Rogers. “It is just about finding his form and his confidence again and he is starting to get that. I can see it straight away, when he is training, when he is playing, the confidence he has got, the things he is trying, and he is a joy to play with.”
Rogers’ first impression of Tuchel is that he is a coach with the “aura” of a winner. “His aura and demeanour is hard to describe but he has that level of confidence, that level of respect already,” he said. “You can see the way he is, the way he acts. He has been so chilled and calm. But when it is time to work, it is time to work. That is the kind of vibe I have got off him from the day or so I have been here. It is really good so far. I am really enjoying it.
“Certain managers have different ways about them. Certainly his aura is one I’ve not experienced before. That’s different to what I’ve faced before.”
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