It is no secret among Crystal Palace fans that Dougie Freedman is a master when it comes to recruitment in football.
For example, the recent third-place play-off at the World Cup between England and France had the Glaswegian’s fingerprints all over it, as several of his signings were on show in Michael Olise, Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze, Maxence Lacroix and Jean-Philippe Mateta.
There were also some players Freedman missed out on who have since become stars – such as Ollie Watkins and Lewis Hall – and another of those who got away has now sealed a £117m move to Chelsea in Morgan Rogers.
Are you worried about our (lack of) transfer activity? 🤔
When Crystal Palace almost signed Morgan Rogers for £7m
The Daily Mail claimed back in July 2021 that Crystal Palace were in talks with Manchester City over a deal for Rogers – who was available for just £7m that summer.
However, a move failed to materialise.
Rogers then went on loan to Bournemouth and Blackpool before a £1.5m move to Middlesbrough in July 2023 – where he blossomed and quickly sealed a £15m switch to Aston Villa in January 2024.
After 31 goals and 29 assists in 125 appearances for Aston Villa, the England international has now sealed a club-record £117m move to Chelsea.
The move is so enormous that Middlesbrough are set to receive more than £20m thanks to a sell-on clause.
It is undoubtedly painful that we failed to sign Rogers given how well his career is developing, and it just goes to show how big a loss Freedman was for Crystal Palace too – the Glaswegian has a remarkable eye for talent, to say the least.
Who is your DREAM signing? ⭐️
That £117m deal should at least carry one positive for the Eagles in the fact that it means we can justify demanding a nine-figure fee for Adam Wharton, especially considering Tottenham spent £100m on Sandro Tonali while Manchester City paid £116m for Elliot Anderson earlier this summer.
