Sheffield United have signed free agent Jack Rodwell on an initial six-month contract.
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Rodwell, 28, has been training with the Blades over the last few weeks after not having a club since leaving Blackburn Rovers at the end of last season. He was previously linked with a move to AS Roma in Serie A but that fell through and he has now ended up at Bramall Lane until the end of the 2019-20 season.
The former Everton, Man City and Sunderland midfielder has been plagued by injuries during his career and especially after he joined City in 2012. He was then painted as the villain in Sunderland’s Netflix documentary and his reputation took a big hit from that.
However, Blades boss Chris Wilder isn’t concerned about that and he’s had plenty of success in the past when talking players on trial or signing them up to short-term deals.
“There is a lot of nonsense that has been talked about Jack. Maybe the spotlight shouldn’t be shone on Jack, maybe it should be shone on a CEO (chief executive) at the time. I’m not a lover of fly-on-the wall documentaries, they’re always looking for a villain,” Wilder said. “From my point of view that’s history. All the boxes that I needed to tick, and Jack needed to tick, he has done. I’ve sat down with him for quite a long time and spoke about his career going forward, it aligns with the club’s goals. He plays a number of positions and hopefully we can get him going.”
Rodwell, who can play across midfield and defense, is delighted to have been given another chance in the Premier League.
“I am so thankful for the opportunity,” Rodwell said. “It is up to me now to do the business and hopefully we can get some good wins on the board. The whole process of the last few weeks was about me looking at Sheffield United, them looking at me and we go from there. I’m sure in a few weeks coming up the manager will be talking to me about different roles and other things. The team are doing brilliant now so it is up to me to force my way into the squad and the starting eleven.”
Picking up some extra cover on a free transfer is a smart move from Sheffield United and adding an extra bit of competition will help the Blades keep their performance levels high.
Wilder’s side have been a revelation in their first season back in the Premier League but the newly-promoted side now face a pivotal month or so as plenty of teams beneath them have picked up big wins over the festive period and the entire PL table has concertinaed.
