Rodwell Joins Sheffield United On Short-Term Deal

Rodwell has signed a six-month contract at the Brammal Lane outfit and will be available for selection when Sheffield United host non-league AFC Fylde in the FA Cup on Sunday.

The 28-year-old was a free agent after leaving Blackburn Rovers at the end of last season, and had been training with Chris Wilder’s men for a while.

A club statement on Twitter read: “Chris Wilder has made an early move in the January transfer window, with the addition of Jack Rodwell.

“Jack has penned a short-term deal at Bramall Lane until the end of the campaign and is available to play in this weekend’s FA Cup game!”

Rodwell trained with Serie A side AS Roma earlier in the season but a deal to join the Stadio Olympico outfit fell through.

Rodwell had a forgettable spell with Sunderland after leaving Manchester City in 2014, and his refusal to leave the club when injured and taking significant weekly wages was featured in the club’s NETFLIX documentary, which led to widespread criticism.

“There might be a club in the north-east who might chuckle over stuff about Jack Rodwell,” Sheffield boss Wilder highlighted Rodwell’s troubles at his former club on Friday.

“But there’s two parts to that story. 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 at the time.

“I’m not a lover of fly-on-the wall documentaries, they’re always looking for a villain.

“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.”