Joe Cole says he ‘didn’t realise’ quite how good Morgan Rogers was following his move to Chelsea, branding the attacker an ‘absolute monster’.

Chelsea smashed their transfer record to sign Rogers after reaching a £117million agreement with Aston Villa for the 24-year-old England international back in July.

Arsenal had initially been in pole position to capture Rogers but were blown out of the water by their fierce London rivals in one of the most compelling transfer sagas of the summer.

Rogers has hit the ground running with the Blues, registering two goals and an assist in his three opening Premier League appearances under the tutelage of Xabi Alonso.

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His latest strike came just two minutes into Sunday’s heavyweight clash with Arsenal, with the former Villa man firing a low volley past David Raya to send the away end into raptures at the Emirates.

The Gunners came from behind to emerge victorious, though, as Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard scored either side of half-time to preserve their 100 per cent record in the Premier League.

Though disappointed with the result in the derby, ex-Chelsea winger Cole has been encouraged what he has seen from Alonso’s side at this embryonic stage of the campaign.

However, he fears the Blues may have left themselves a little short in central midfield after failing to tie down a replacement for Enzo Fernandez on transfer deadline day.

‘It’s really exciting at Chelsea. I went to Stamford Bridge to watch the game against Brighton and the front three of Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro just looked electric so that gives you great excitement,’ Cole said on The Dressing Room Podcast.

‘Moises Caicedo being injured was a little dampener. Romeo Lavia is a good player but he just can’t seem to keep himself fit for a sustained period of time.

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‘Reece James, Malo Gusto, whoever plays in there with him, it’s not Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo.

‘I thought Arsenal just slightly dominated that midfield area and that allowed them to build into the game but there’s a lot to be proud of for Chelsea.’

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Cole is delighted to see Palmer enjoying his football again after a frustrating campaign for the England star last season, which led to him missing out on a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad.

The three-time Premier League winner has also been mightily impressed by Rogers’ early showings in a Chelsea shirt.

‘Whatever Cole Palmer has done in the summer has worked because he looks so smooth on the ball,’ Cole added.

‘Morgan Rogers is an absolute monster, I didn’t realise. I knew he was a top player but… first touch of the ball, bang. He just lit the game up.

‘From a Chelsea perspective, it’s been a great summer in terms of bringing players in and I think the squad looks more settled. Xabi Alonso is going to get better, we’ve got a lot of great players.

‘There’s one bine of contention: I think we’ve left ourselves short in the midfield area and that’s going to have to be rectified.

‘What I do like about that is they didn’t panic because they didn’t get the boy from Monaco [Lamine Camara] that they wanted, the number one target, and they didn’t go and buy a player to just fill a role.

‘The money you would have to spend for a player of that quality is like £40-50million and Chelsea can’t afford to make any more mistakes.

‘I’m happy for us to go a bit loose for three months and not have the bodies in there, but get the right people in the door.’

On new signing Maxence Lacroix, Cole continued: ‘I think he has been a good signing.

‘It’s the first summer in a long time… Lacroix looks like a good centre-half, he looks a very, very good centre-half and he’s improved us.’

Wesley Fofana had a tough afternoon against Arsenal and there are calls for the Frenchman to be taken out of the firing line ahead of the side’s next top-flight clash with high-flying Hull City.

‘Fofana struggles because he can’t play regularly,’ Cole said when reflecting on the defender’s shaky display.

‘You know how difficult that is when you’ve got a proper injury, something that’s managed. That’s why Ledley King was remarkable

‘By the end of my career, training twice a week was all I could do because the body gets wear and tear but for players like Fofana and Ledley King, when that happens a lot earlier, it has an affect and you have to train to sharpen your tools.’

Chelsea return to action on Wednesday night at home to Leeds United in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

The west London giants made it to as far as the semi-finals last year, where they were eliminated by the Arsenal, the eventual runners-up.

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