Morgan Rogers believes Chelsea have the tools to challenge for major honours once again, and insists his understanding with Cole Palmer will be key to getting the Blues firing.
Rogers became the most expensive British player in history when he left Aston Villa for Chelsea straight after helping England reach the World Cup semi-finals and finish third at the tournament this summer.
The 24-year-old marked his debut with a goal as Chelsea beat Real Sociedad 3-1 on Saturday. According to ESPN, the win also doubled as Xabi Alonso's first match in charge at Stamford Bridge, while the BBC reported that Rogers struck within the opening minutes of the friendly.
"I'm just so excited," Rogers told Sky Sports. "It was just an unbelievable summer."
"It's probably the one summer where I didn't mind that it was a short one. I love my rest, I love my time with my family but at the same time it was one where I was watching the pre-season games, itching to just get back in."
"I feel the excitement walking in every day. I feel the anticipation of not knowing where it can go. It can be good, it can be bad, but I feel a positive energy and a vibe. A fresh manager, a fresh change of environment, new players added and stuff - I feel that everyone's excited to see where it can go and where we can take it."
"Obviously, everyone's talking about it, who knows what we're going to do? But that's down to us and that's the thing - we've got a confident group of players that believe in ourselves and believe in each other's ability and our own."
"Chelsea is a club that wants to win things. It's a club that I've always grown up watching win titles, win Champions Leagues and I want to be in teams that do that as well."
"The players - the Hazards, the Drogbas, the Lampards coming through when I was growing up watching football. It's a massive team and they were always winning and competing for titles and I want to be in teams that do that here."
"There's a lot of players in that room that have the aspirations to do the same thing, so it's exciting where we can take it."
"It's about knuckling down now and proving people wrong who probably had a negative outlook on Chelsea in the last couple of years. I'm excited, I'm positive and I can't wait really."
The move has been reported at £117 million, with Chelsea handing Rogers a six-year contract running to 2032 that includes the option of a further 12 months, according to The Athletic. That figure is said to have made him the most expensive British player ever, eclipsing Elliot Anderson's £116 million switch to Manchester City earlier in the summer, as noted by Sky Sports.
The deal was struck before Chelsea's summer tour, with a verbal agreement in place and a medical pencilled in for the following Monday, per earlier reporting from The Athletic, which also noted Arsenal had previously shown interest before Rogers opted for Stamford Bridge. Chelsea's post-tour scheduling meant Rogers was expected to link up with the squad only after their Australia and Asia trip, which ran from 28 July to 9 August, according to Tribuna. Separate reporting from the BBC stated Rogers first trained at Cobham on 11 August, having returned from holiday following England's World Cup run.
Chelsea's swoop for Rogers has also been framed as an early signal of Xabi Alonso's imprint on the club, with our earlier coverage of Alonso's influence on the transfer window pointing to the Palmer reunion and possible further additions such as John Stones and Alex Scott as part of a fresh approach at Stamford Bridge. The £117 million deal itself was confirmed in our report on Rogers' record-breaking move to Chelsea, which detailed the six-year deal with the option of a further year. Aston Villa, meanwhile, moved quickly to address the gap left by Rogers, with our story on Villa's pursuit of Alejandro Garnacho outlining Unai Emery's hopes of reviving the 22-year-old's career at Villa Park.
Rogers: Palmer and I will get the best out of each other
The switch to west London reunites Rogers with his close friend and former club team-mate Cole Palmer.
Rogers joined Manchester City as a teenager from West Brom and played alongside Palmer for City's youth sides as well as together on England duty.
"I've seen people saying, 'how are you going to fit them in? How are they going to play?'"
"We have completely different qualities. He's more of a passer, a linker, a combiner. He's like an artist in the way he moves with the ball and plays with it."
"I'm more direct, more straight line and more physical. We're completely different and that offsets really well."
"I've known his game, he's known my game since we were what, 14? We've played with each other at England and stuff like that, so we know exactly how to play with each other and to get the best out of each other."
"Some people might not know how it looks like, but we do. We know how it looks, we've done it before. People will pit us against each other, but we're on the same team now and it's about winning and getting the best out of each other, and I think we'll do that."
"Off the pitch always helps on the pitch - and playing with one of your closest friends always [helps] bring the best out of each other in a competitive way of wanting to kind of outdo each other. But there has to be a line of the team comes first, and winning comes first, and that's always been our biggest thing."
Rogers arrives at Chelsea on the back of a stellar campaign at Villa Park, having scored in last season's Europa League final and been named player of the tournament.
He was a regular fixture for Aston Villa in the Premier League last season, deployed both on the left wing and as a No 10, roles that shaped the statistics behind his central and left-sided performances.
'I've got a lot more to come'
Rogers is well aware that his hefty price tag comes with heightened scrutiny, but insists carrying that expectation for club and country is exactly the kind of challenge he wants.
"This is what I live for. These are the conversations I want to be in," Rogers said.
"I want to be the topic of discussion when talking about games I'm involved in or England selections."
"I want to be in those conversations - sometimes on the good end of it, sometimes on the bad end of it - but if I'm in those conversations I'm doing something right."
"This summer I was getting into that and I was getting a taste for it of what it feels like. I know I've got a lot more to come and I like that pressure of it being on me where I've got the keys to decide how I'm spoken about in those conversations."
"If I've got the kind of say in what happens and what comes next then I'll be confident in myself to be on the right end of it."
What happens next
With his debut goal against Real Sociedad already on the board, Rogers is set to continue integrating with the Chelsea squad following the completion of their Australia and Asia pre-season tour on 9 August, according to Tribuna. The next clearly identified milestone for Chelsea is the start of the new competitive season, with Rogers' 15 August debut against Real Sociedad marking the visible starting point of his Stamford Bridge career, per ESPN.
Elsewhere in Chelsea's squad-building plans, our earlier report on Paul Merson's comments on Chelsea's need for experience noted growing talk of a move for Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck, while Merson also questioned whether Rodri and Elliot Anderson can operate together in midfield.
