As he headed for the dressing room following Middlesbrough’s 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa, Morgan Rogers started to suspect something was afoot.
Even though it is a global industry worth billions of pounds, football remains a small world. It is difficult for those who work in the game to keep secrets from their peers and sure enough, snippets of information from Unai Emery’s analysis meetings ahead of the FA Cup third-round tie in January 2024 soon found their way to Rogers.
‘He kept mentioning you,’ was the word from Rogers’ opponents in the Villa side that day.