Middlesbrough's sale of Morgan Rogers and why they hope it will be different this summer

Kieran Scott has explained the reasoning behind Morgan Rogers's transfer from Middlesbrough to Aston Villa in January, as the club now look ahead to the summer transfer window in the hope of retaining their key stars this time around.

Boro are expected to field enquiries for big players this summer, namely Rav van den Berg, Hayden Hackney and Emmanuel Latte Lath. However, in a sit down with regional media outlets recently, the Boro head of football reiterated the club's stance that they don't want to sell their best players this summer, with owner Steve Gibson said to be 'bullish' in his stance on the matter.

Instead, planning to bring in a few players they hope will add real quality to the squad, Gibson is keen to back Michael Carrick as much as he possibly can and offer him the best possible resources to get Boro back to the Premier League. As such, only astronomical offers will be considered for the aforementioned trio.

READ MORE: Kieran Scott delivers emphatic response when asked about potential Middlesbrough player sales

It comes after four big sales all worth over £10m by Boro in the past two years, with Djed Spence, Marcus Tavernier and Morgan Rogers earning Premier League moves while Chuba Akpom left for Ajax. Rogers was the most recent of those sales back in January. His move to Aston Villa come just six months after his arrival at the club.

Asked about the decision to sell so quickly, Scott explained: "It was a really difficult one. Morgan had made a big move to Man City when he was young and had aspirations to play there but it didn't work out. He ended up being a bit in between and we were the ones who took a punt and invested in him full-time.

"He came in and you could see flashes of what he could be. He had some games where he was indifferent and then games when he was top-class. That's what you get with young players. We played Aston Villa in the FA Cup and they witnessed him during a little golden patch where he was starting to put it together.

"They've obviously done their work preparing for us, saw him, and liked him. I think Aston Villa were top of the league at that time and when a big club like that comes to the table, it was really difficult to bat it away. We tried. We didn't roll over. But in the end money talks, the boy is an Aston Villa fan, there's the salary that comes with it... It became difficult to stop him. As much as I think Morgan wanted to stay, he couldn't turn that away."

Some supporters would be forgiven as a result of the recent sales, to be dubious about the club's stance on selling players. But there is more than just words behind Scott and Boro's stance this summer. Firstly, the previous sales as well as business done in the past 12 months on incomings leaves Boro's squad in a far better place with therefore not as much investment needed this summer and a healthier position as far as FFP rules are concerned.

More importantly, however, is the players themselves. Chuba Akpom's sale last summer was largely due to the fact that he had just 12 months remaining on his Boro contract and priced himself out of a new deal after scoring 29 goals in the season prior. The other three, meanwhile, made clear they wanted to leave and explore the respective opportunities in the Premier League that had been presented to them.

While Boro could have dug their heels in, not only were they receiving good money that was needed in all three cases, they were also in a position where they risked disrupting the harmony in the dressing had they blocked the players' moves and made them stay. Boro opted to let them go, but only after negotiating hard to get as a deal as they felt they possibly could.

This summer, however, the hope is that it's different. All three of the main men they want to keep are under longer contracts and in the case of Van den Berg and Latte Lath, they've both stated they would like to stay and continue their mission on Teesside of getting Boro back to the Premier League.

While there has been no such public admission from Hackney yet, the midfielder is Boro through and through and has developed enormously under the tutelage of Michael Carrick in the last 18 months or so. While the England under-21 international is destined for the top eventually, Boro are hoping he will give them at least another year to try and realise Premier League ambitions together, with time certainly on the midfielder's side.

Rogers, meanwhile, has proven a real hit at Villa Park since making the winter switch. Just starting to really show his true potential at Boro, he's made the move and quickly made a positive impression at his new club by continuing that positive form and scoring three Premier League goals.