Three years before becoming Chelsea‘s £117m club-record signing, Morgan Rogers watched his value fall to just £1m and questioned whether he would make it at all.

For Rogers, the transition from academy football to the men’s game was not as seamless as he had hoped and, in his own words, it took a series of “difficult loans” for him to break through.

Bournemouth, who Chelsea face at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, were the first of two underwhelming Championship loan spells for Rogers, alongside a later stint at Blackpool, while he was a Manchester City player.

It was a setback for a player who had been a regular England youth international and one of West Bromwich Albion’s brightest academy prospects.

In a recent interview with Chelsea‘s club channel, Rogers said that period taught him how to “take knocks”.

Asked what his rise through the EFL had taught him, he replied: “Everything.”

After a long pause, he added: “I needed that next challenge, to be taken out of my comfort zone and find the player I was going to be in professional football.

“I think the academy player I was, if you watch me then, is not the same player I am now. I am a completely different player. I had to learn that on loan.

“The one thing I learned when going through these difficult loans is that I couldn’t care less what people say about me. I just care about what I can control.”

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad loan,” Rogers’ first loan manager at Lincoln City, Michael Appleton, told BBC Sport.

Appleton had worked in West Brom’s academy and knew Rogers was one of the most highly rated prospects there. He made it his mission to bring him to Sincil Bank in League One.

He remembers Rogers having a big personality and speaking up in team meetings despite arriving as an 18-year-old. The forward went on to score six goals and provide two assists in 28 appearances after joining shortly after lockdown.

En route to the play-off final, which Lincoln lost to Blackpool, Appleton recalls one moment in particular.

“We played Portsmouth away and they had three or four absolute units in the team,” he added. “We were setting up for set-pieces and almost running out of players to pick up these giants.

“Without any hesitation whatsoever, Morgan said: ‘Make me a marker. I’ll head the ball out of our box.’

“This was a teenager on his first loan.

“He was full of confidence because he was playing well, but he took the defensive side of the game just as seriously as trying to impact the opposition’s box. For me, that’s a great example of him as a person and as a player.”

However, after earning an opportunity in the Championship with Bournemouth, Rogers started only three matches and scored once under then-manager Scott Parker, whose side secured promotion back to the Premier League.

Rogers had little impact and was described as a “slow burner” by former scout Des Taylor, who brought him in.

He added: “You could see his ability having scouted him at Lincoln, but it wasn’t clear what he would become. We saw his Lincoln loan spell turn him from a boy into a man.

“He showed he could handle the physical side of things after coming from Man City’s academy. Unfortunately, we signed him late in the window. We saw him as a number 10, but Parker was not really playing with a number 10.

“I don’t think it was a great time for him because he wasn’t getting game time and, when he did, it wasn’t in the position he wanted. He was a victim of the transition. It was no fault of Scott’s, but it didn’t work out.”

Former Bournemouth team-mate Steve Cook added: “Bournemouth had the opportunity to sign him permanently (reportedly for £9m) but it didn’t work out.

“He didn’t let it stop him. First and foremost, he was a really good lad. He was energetic away from the football pitch and I think that character has helped take him to where he is now.

“He’s a great example that not every journey is straightforward. You need setbacks to make you hungry and appreciate what you’ve got. He worked hard, listened, had a willingness to learn and wanted to prove people wrong.”

Rogers’ loan spell was cut short and he returned to academy football before an injury delayed his next move to Blackpool until the following January.

The move reunited Rogers with Appleton in the Championship, but the manager was sacked after only two weeks and replaced by Mick McCarthy.

Rogers made 20 appearances, both as a starter and substitute, scoring once as the Tangerines were relegated to League One after appointing a third manager in April.

“Unfortunately, he played one game against Watford and then I got sacked. That wasn’t great for either of us,” Appleton added.

“He’d been patient, I’d been patient while he recovered from his summer injury, we’d finally reconnected and then I was out of the building.

“I don’t think he played as much as he would have liked after that, but he dealt with it professionally and in the right way.”

Rogers says this period was “difficult” and tried not to compare himself to former team-mates who overtook him and got opportunities before him.

He even doubted whether he would make it but said his family and friends kept him grounded.

Notably, his “best friend in football”, Cole Palmer, joined Chelsea for £42.5m having not needed a loan move to establish himself at Manchester City. At the same time, Rogers joined Middlesbrough for just £1m.

A run of five goals and three assists during Middlesbrough’s six-game run to the Carabao Cup semi-finals alerted Aston Villa, where several of Rogers’ former West Brom coaches were working in senior academy roles, to make an initial £8m move in the winter window.

By then, however, his close friend Palmer had already broken into the England squad through regular goals and assists for Chelsea.

“Morgan is a great example that careers aren’t always a straight line,” Appleton explained.

From a £9m prospect to a £1m gamble and eventually a £117m Chelsea signing, his story is a reminder that some of the best footballers need to overcome setbacks from a young age.