Middlesbrough's relative position of strength as Aston Villa bid for ...

Middlesbrough have rejected an offer from Aston Villa for Morgan Rogers, with the club believed to be in a strong position as far as any further negotiations go.

Villa submitted a bid for the Boro forward just shy of two weeks since he starred against them in a narrow FA Cup defeat at the Riverside for Michael Carrick's side. Reports from the Midlands suggest that Unai Emery has made the 21-year-old his top January target.

However, their initial bid for the versatile forward was said to have been well below a price Boro would consider beginning talks at, with Boro's position a strong one. Rogers is only six months into a four-year contract at the Riverside, having joined from Manchester City in the summer.

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That is not to say that Boro wouldn't be open to further negotiations with Villa, however, with the club's latest financial accounts released earlier in the day highlighting the importance of player trading for them.

Without the sales of Marcus Tavernier and Djed Spence in the 12 months the set of financial results covered, Boro would have lost just shy of £30m in total, with those two major sales contributing to overall losses of £6.7m instead.

The most recent summer transfer window - when Rogers was signed by Boro from Manchester City - was not included in those financial results, but a note at the end revealed that the club had a net expenditure of over £5m despite the big-money sale of Chuba Akpom.

Boro's financial situation and current strategy therefore ultimately means they have to be open to player sales, though they have been keen over recent windows to make sure they drive a hard bargain when necessary. In the case of Rogers, the three-and-a-half years that remain on his Boro contract leaves them in a strong position.

Born just outside of Birmingham and initially a product of the West Brom academy, a move to Villa would naturally be an attractive one. However, Rogers' huge improvements on Teesside this season after a difficult start have made him a valued member of Michael Carrick's squad and the club are keen, if possible, to keep him at the club this month.

It's not known at this stage whether Villa come back with another offer. Emery has earlier this month spoken about needing to comply with financial fair play rules. He made clear that if it was better to wait until the summer then that is what they would do.

The two clubs have enjoyed a favourable relationship over the last 12 months or so, with Finn Azaz joining Boro from Villa earlier this month. And 12 months ago Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey joined Boro on loan from the top-flight side, with coach Aaron Danks playing a big role following his arrival at the club shortly beforehand.

Danks played a big role in Rogers' arrival last summer too, having known the young forward from his time coaching in West Brom's academy.