Jack Rodwell has signed for Sheffield United on a short-term deal. The midfielder has been without a club for the first half of the season after leaving Blackburn Rovers in the summer. However, he has now signed a deal with the Blades until the end of the season.
Sheffield United Complete Signing of Jack Rodwell
Premier League Experience
Jack Rodwell is not unfamiliar with the Premier League, with Sheffield United being his fourth senior Premier League team. He made his top-flight debut in 2008 at boyhood club Everton. Rodwell earned a place in the first team there and eventually earned himself a move to Manchester City in 2012. His time in Manchester was stunted by injury, and he appeared just 16 times in the Premier League during his two-year spell. After failing to impress at City, Rodwell moved to Sunderland. He was a first-team regular there, and stayed with them all the way until the beginning of the 2018/19 season, when he moved to Blackburn, at the beginning of Sunderland’s first League One campaign.
Free Agent
Rodwell played regularly for Blackburn in 2018/19, however, his contract with them ran out in the summer of 2019. They could not come to an agreement regarding his contract as they could not guarantee game time for the 28-year-old. Since he had fallen out of favour there, having trained with the U23’s towards the end of the season. Rodwell did not sign a new deal with the Championship side and has been a free agent ever since.
Versatility
Jack Rodwell is no stranger to a number of positions on the football field. Primarily a defensive midfielder, he is also comfortable playing as a centre-back and in a more attacking role. Versatility in this many positions provides Sheffield United with both squad depth and competition for starts. This competition could see the best brought out in even more of the best brought out in the Blades’ players, of whom many have vastly over-performed this season.
Training with Sheffield United
As a free agent, Rodwell has been training with Sheffield United for the past three weeks. It seems manager Chris Wilder wants to get a stance on how the 28-year-old fefensive midfielder could fit into his plans for the newly-promoted side. In a recent interview, Wilder said: “He’s certainly got the desire, and from a physical point of view there are no issues”. Wilder has seen from the training sessions that Rodwell has what it takes, and he has now signed with them on a short term deal, until the end of the season, with the option to extend.
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