MIDDLESBROUGH are mulling over their response to Aston Villa’s latest offer for Morgan Rogers, with discussions over the forward’s future expected to continue in the next 24 hours.

Having had two previous bids for Rogers rejected, Villa tabled a third formal offer this weekend in an attempt to prise the 21-year-old from Teesside.

Villa’s most recent offer is understood to involve a package that is worth around £15m once add-ons are included in the deal.

That represents an increase on the bid that was rejected last week, and is much closer to the kind of figures that would prompt Boro to sell.

However, the final decision on a sale will be made by chairman Steve Gibson, with the situation still being discussed ahead of Thursday’s transfer deadline.

Talks are expected to continue tomorrow, with the Boro hierarchy determined to engineer the best possible deal if Rogers is to leave this month.

West Ham United were linked with a possible deal of their own over the weekend, but while there was contact between Hammers officials and their counterparts on Teesside, the London club are now not believed to be in the running to complete a move.

If Rogers, who was born in Halesowen and was a childhood Villa fan, was to move to Villa Park this month, his departure would result in a huge profit for Boro.

The Teessiders paid around £1.5m to sign Rogers from Manchester City in the summer, and while the reigning Premier League champions included a hefty sell-on clause as part of the deal, Boro are still looking at a huge profit in the space of just six months.

Rogers played and scored for Boro in their Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg defeat at Chelsea last week, and is due to train at Rockliffe Park as planned in the next couple of days. However, with Boro’s next game against Sunderland coming after the closure of the transfer window, it is possible that he has already played his final game for the club.