Morgan Rogers has been crowned UEFA Europa League Player of the Season after playing a key role in Aston Villa’s historic European triumph.
The 23-year-old midfielder delivered an outstanding performance throughout the campaign and ended it in style with a goal and an assist in Villa’s 3-0 victory over SC Freiburg in Wednesday’s final.
Rogers finished the competition with three goals and five assists across 15 matches, while also recording 1,088 minutes — the highest by any Aston Villa player in the tournament.
The recognition comes ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s expected announcement of England national football team’s World Cup squad on Friday, with Rogers strongly tipped to make the list.
Aston Villa also dominated UEFA’s Europa League Team of the Season after their successful run. Emiliano Martinez, John McGinn and Emi Buendia were all selected alongside Rogers by UEFA’s technical observer panel.
Nottingham Forest also had two representatives in the team after reaching the semi-finals before losing 4-1 on aggregate to Aston Villa. Defenders Igor Jesus and Morato earned places in the XI.
UEFA also ranked two Aston Villa goals from the final among the best strikes of the season, with Buendia’s goal placed fifth and Youri Tielemans’ strike taking seventh position.
The award for best goal of the season went to Jones El-Abdellaoui for his spectacular volley for Celta Vigo against Ludogorets Razgrad.