And comments the 23-year-old made in December may give them an unexpected advantage over Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in what is shaping up as the summer's most competitive domestic pursuit.
Reports in the Northwest claim that Manchester United regard Rogers as the ideal long-term successor to Bruno Fernandes, who turns 32 in September and remains indispensable in the short term but whose replacement must be identified.
Arsenal are the frontrunner. Rogers scored 14 goals and contributed 12 assists across all competitions this season as Villa won the Europa League and qualified for the Champions League, and manager Mikel Arteta has made him one of his primary summer targets. Chelsea and City — the club where Rogers began his career — are also monitoring the situation.
But Rogers himself left a clue about his leanings during a post-match interview in December following Villa's 2-1 win over United — a match in which he scored both goals.
"It's massive. Every game is important, there's no bigger team than United.
"They came here to play, they're a tough team to play against and we've not had a great record against them recently so we knew we had to put it right and we're happy with the three points."
Aston Villa are expected to demand in excess of £100m. Middlesbrough retain a 20 per cent sell-on clause from his 2024 departure, which must factor into any negotiation.