Arsenal handed huge Morgan Rogers transfer opportunity as Aston Villa slapped with UEFA fine

Aston Villa have been hit with a fine by UEFA amid speculation that Arsenal are plotting moves for star duo Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers. The Champions League hopefuls have been sanctioned by the governing body for breaching financial rules which has resulted in the West Midlands club being hit in the pocket.

Unai Emery's side missed out on qualifying for the elite European competition after their final defeat against Manchester United consigned them to Europa League football next season. Villa had an impressive run in the tournament last season, beating the likes of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig before they were knocked out by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain in a dramatic quarter-final.

But Villa have now been hit with an unconditional €11million fine for a breach of the organisation's financial regulations, including €5m for failing to comply with the football earnings rules plus €6m for breaching the squad costs rules.

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UEFA have come down hard on Villa and have issued a further warning over a possible conditional €5m fine per year if they breach further in the next three years.

Birmingham Live have reported that with an additional sanction could see Villa be prohibited from replacing a player with a more expensive one, however it's unlikely that Emery's side will target a transfer who earns more than the likes of Marcus Rashford or Marco Asensio, who had season-long loan spells at Villa Park last term.

The clamping down on the finances from UEFA will not affect Villa's long-term ambitions but they occur during a period of uncertainty surrounding the future of both Watkins and Rogers.

Arsenal have been linked with the former Manchester City academy prospect over a move after the 22-year-old following an impressive season.

He made an immediate impact at Villa and made himself a contender to be considered for the England senior squad, not long after his £15m move from Middlesbrough.

The Gunners also made an approach to sign Watkins during the January window, however they left their move too late which saw their Premier League rivals reject a bid from the North London club.

Arsenal pushed for his signature on the eve of the deadline but by then, Jhon Duran had made the lucrative move to Saudi Arabia to sign for Al-Nassr.

Manchester United are said to be interested in a move for Watkins as they look for an out-and-out striker.

Watkins was left disappointed by his lack of action in the Champions League against PSG and admitted he was "fuming" by the omission.

“Look, Champions League we’ve put in a lot of hard graft the last few years to get to that position and obviously I played 20 minutes against PSG in both games," he said.

“I’m not going to lie I was fuming I weren’t playing and I let him know that, but, look, he’s the manager at the end of the day and you’ve got to respect his decisions.

"But I’m not one of these players that’s happy to sit on the bench."

Watkins followed up with a player of the match performance against Newcastle United in the following match, Emery responded: “It’s fantastic.

"It’s fantastic to be angry, it’s fantastic to play like he played today.

“It’s fantastic to be available every match in the better moment, like I think today he showed. This is the competitive way I want.

“With Watkins, it was a very good conversation. And, of course, when he is responding like today I’m so, so happy for him, for the team, for our objective, how we are getting through them and through their demand as well.

“It’s really fantastic, but every player for me is the same. I’m trying to support and to help them.”