Curious case of Jack Rodwell as ex-Man City and Everton star makes return to football - The Mirror

The 30-year-old was once tipped to be the next darling of English football but he has not played a competitive match in 16 months since featuring for Sheffield United

Jack Rodwell was once tipped to be the next big thing in English football.

He made his senior debut for Everton at the age of just 16 and plenty of eyes were on him as he quickly became a regular for the Toffees.

A big money move would follow in 2012 when Manchester City splashed out £15million for him.

But he would go on to make just 16 Premier League appearances and they cashed in by selling him to Sunderland for £10m in 2014.

That is where Rodwell's career really started to decline with persistent injuries affecting him.

He left four years later but not before being cast as the pantomime villain by the Black Cats' fans following his portrayal in the Netflix series Sunderland 'Til I Die .

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The documentary showed him refusing to agree to the cancellation of his contract worth a reported £70,000 per week.

Further spells followed at Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United before he was released by the Blades last summer.

Now aged 30, Rodwell has finally made his next move by agreeing a contract with Australian side Western Sydney Wanderers.

He has signed a two-year deal with the A-League side. The club clearly feel Rodwell, who has won three England caps, is fit enough to last a full campaign after his struggles in recent years.

At Sheffield United he failed to make an appearance in the whole of last season, when the Blades were relegated from the top flight.

The season prior he played just twice, totalling 73 minutes against AFC Fylde in the FA Cup and Burnley in a Premier League game.

His last appearance of any kind was that Turf Moor clash - 16 months ago.

Former Blades boss Chris Wilder always retained faith in Rodwell and speaking about the midfielder back in February he said: "Jack's career and CV, before coming here, saw him playing in the Premier League and he was excellent.

"He's been quite unfortunate with a few things. He's been incredibly unfortunate here over the last two months where he had a heavy fall and he's had an issue that is a struggle to get over.

"We're working hard with him. He was a punt. Financially, it wasn't a deal that affected the club in any big way. We're not tied into anything big.

"It was a punt to see if we could get Jack up to the levels that he showed earlier on in his career.

"His attitude has been spot-on but sometimes you have these runs, and Jack is having a run right now with this injury that's really unfortunate.

"Hopefully, he gets over this and tries to get his career back up and running. He covers a load of positions.

"I wouldn't sign a bad player that's got a bad attitude. I wouldn't sign a player, as I've said before, who wants to pull the group apart.

"There's all sorts of idiotic, lazy, uneducated views on Jack and what he is as a person and player - all wrong and all false.

"We're trying. Sometimes they (gambles) work, sometimes they don't. At the moment it's not working but who's to say it won't turn around for Jack?"

Sadly for Rodwell it didn't work out but he now has a fresh chance Down Under to prove his worth once more.

Wanderers are managed by former Wolves, Sunderland and Wales midfielder Carl Robinson.

Rodwell's new teammates include ex-Brighton striker Tomer Hemed and former Middlesbrough pair Tomás Mejías and Rhys Williams.