Jack-pot: A-League ex-Premier League star offered long-term deal

Just four games into his A-League Men career, ex-Premier League prodigy Jack Rodwell has already done enough to convince Western Sydney Wanderers to offer him a lucrative upgraded long-term contract.

Initially brought to Wonderland on a low-budget one-year deal amid question marks over his fitness and staying power at the age of 30, the former Everton, Manchester City and Sunderland utility has shown flashes of the work ethic and quality which made him one of England’s most talked about teenagers after breaking through at Goodson Park aged just 16.

Jack Rodwell Wanderers contract

The former Premier League player is currently on a one year contract with Wanderers.
Coach Carl Robinson is keen to keep the services of his fellow Brit.
The A-League club are said to be offering a lucrative contract to keep him at Western Sydney.

More A-League news can be found on FTBL.

It’s understood the Wanderers’ hierarchy are keen to tie Rodwell down for a further two seasons for the princely sum of around $400,000 a year.

With a goal to his name also, Rodwell - who arrived underdone after being starved of opportunities at his last club Sheffield United - has made an instant impression with his powerful running from midfield, precise distribution and all-round dynamism.

Coach Carl Robinson believes there’s plenty more to come from the player who relocated down under with his wife and children late last year amid ongoing conjecture over whether he still had a realistic football future.

Those doubts were the result of a nightmare spell in England, where Rodwell made just one Premier League appearance across two seasons at Sheffield United and only 73 minutes of action in total.

And that was off the back of a tempestuous four-year stay at Sunderland where he picked up $130,000 a week for spending much of his time on the treatment table or the bench, much to the ire of fans who accused him of bleeding the club.

He made a total of just 73 appearances at the Stadium of Light before departing in mid-2018.

A new frontier and clean slate has seemingly re-mastered Rodwell’s mojo, albeit playing in a Wanderers side languishing 10th on the ladder with seven points from six games, but matches in hand on six of the clubs above them.

They hit the road to take on bottom club Brisbane Roar on Saturday in a bid to start proving their big name squad are capable of unifying into a cohesive force.

“It’s been a bit stop-start but I’m enjoying it,” Rodwell told KEEPUP this week.

“The results haven’t gone perfect for us but the mood in the dressing room is still very positive. I’m really enjoying it, it’s a good environment to be in.

“Playing regular football is the number one thing for me. I didn’t manage to do that last season and that’s frustrating for a player.”