Angus is an experienced football journalist at Football FanCast, specialising in Premier League reporting, opinion writing and in-depth football analysis. Since graduating from Southampton Solent University in 2022, he has developed extensive experience covering the English game, producing thousands of articles across a wide range of clubs and competitions.  

Before joining Football FanCast, Angus led VAVEL's Brighton & Hove Albion department, gaining valuable experience in club-specific reporting and editorial leadership. He subsequently joined Football FanCast through Snack Media's academy, now part of Valnet, and has progressed into the publication's Opinions and Features team.
 

As one of Football FanCast's longest-serving writers, Angus has covered numerous major developments across the Premier League, combining breaking news experience with detailed features and considered opinions. His work draws on years of reporting to provide context behind performances, transfer activity and the wider issues shaping English football.

Unai Emery believes Nicolas Jackson has the potential to become one of the best strikers in the world, and his early form at Aston Villa is certainly indicative of this.

Already this season, the Senegalese striker has scored seven times across 11 matches in all competitions. A few eyebrows were raised when Ollie Watkins was sold to Al-Hilal in August, Jackson then anointed as his successor, returning to Chelsea after a so-so year on loan with Bayern Munich, second-fiddle to Ballon d'Or winner Harry Kane last year.

Jackson has a special skillset, but he's not the only newbie at Villa Park who has the potential to become a superstar under Emery's wing, perhaps even coming to eclipse the likes of Watkins and Morgan Rogers at the club.

Why Morgan Rogers was so special at Aston Villa

There's no question that Rogers left Aston Villa for a pretty penny, joining Chelsea for £117m this summer. But even though it was such an incredible financial deal for the club, there was a sense that expectations should be tempered over the coming year (or more), with too many superstars pulled away.

Hailed as "one of the world's best" by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp for his exploits in the Midlands, Rogers scored 31 goals and supplied 29 assists across two-and-a-half years at Villa Park, but his power and potency as a central attacking midfielder or winger catapulted him to the highest level.

Indeed, the Three Lions star has made an emphatic start to his Chelsea career, and while watching him ply his trade elsewhere is poignant for the Villa, let's not forget that Rogers delivered for the club a Europa League title, earning them a pretty penny besides.

When Rogers was sold, it felt like Aston Villa were losing an irreplaceable part of Emery project, but the manager has demonstrated his world-class quality over the past few months, bringing over emerging talents such as Johan Manzambi.

How Aston Villa have replaced Morgan Rogers

Manzambi joined Aston Villa in a deal worth more than £50m this summer. Newcastle United had made him their top target, but Emery hijacked the move.

The 21-year-old has made quite the start to his life on English shores. Already, he has posted three goals and three assists in all competitions, and already, onlookers are starting to understand that this is one of the most talented young attackers in the world.

Villan Correspondent Dan Bardell has said this one the matter, "Rogers is a fine player, started well at Chelsea, but I genuinely think Manzambi will end up being world class."

Manzambi, however, is not an out-and-out winger. In fact, for most of his Freiburg career, he operated in a springy box-to-box capacity. Emery embraces his multi-functionality, but there's a case to be made that another member of the Villan persuasion is emerging as Villa's new version of Rogers.

It's a shame he's spending a lot of time on the bench right now.

The new Morgan Rogers is warming the bench at Aston Villa

Emery and co may consider Manzambi to be a talisman in the making at Aston Villa, but the burgeoning Swiss international is still finding his feet from a positional standpoint.

Instead, Emery could find the new Rogers in Ibrahim Mbaye, who joined the club from Paris Saint-Germain in a £43m deal this summer. The 18-year-old is raw, but it's high time he was handed his first-ever start in the Premier League.

Fleet-footed and ferocious, Mbaye is already establishing himself as one of the most creative attacking talents in the world. Liverpool wanted him this summer, but Aston Villa were more incisive in the bidding, replacing Leon Bailey on the right wing with a teenager who could develop into one of the world's best.

Mbaye's ball-carrying ability marks him as the perfect Rogers replacement, someone who can flit between both wings and wreak chaos when driving into the danger area. Mbaye has a desire to score goals which mirrors that of Rogers, and with such dynamic attacking play, the assists come naturally.

Mbaye has the quality to hurt Fulham on Saturday evening. He hasn't yet started a Premier League game, and will need to overcome a stern Cottager defensive block to convince Emery that he's ready to start over Alysson, older and more physical, ostensibly more suited right now to the hardness of Premier League football.

But Mbaye has bona fide world-class potential, and he could be the superstar of this exciting frontline in the future, someone who could eclipse even the impact of Rogers in Emery's project.