---
title: "Flashback: Rodwell finally agrees to leave Sunderland"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/transfer-flashback-rodwell-finally-agrees-to-leave-sunderland/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Paul Nicholson"
section: "Features"
published: "2019-04-12T05:50:18Z"
modified: "2019-04-12T05:50:18Z"
---

# Flashback: Rodwell finally agrees to leave Sunderland

**When Gus Poyet signed Jack Rodwell from Manchester City in August 2014, everyone thought it was a masterstroke by the Uruguayan, who, it seemed, had managed to bring a touch of class into the Sunderland midfield.**

The move, however, soon turned into an unmitigated disaster, with the player spending most of his time off the pitch rather than on it, and infamously [**refusing to play**](https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/906960/Sunderland-Jack-Rodwell-Chris-Coleman-Play-EFL-Championship) for the club, while [**refusing to leave**](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jack-rodwells-refusal-move-makes-14235175) and lose out on his lucrative contract.

The player ended up [**playing just 79 times**](https://www.transfermarkt.com/jack-rodwell/leistungsdaten/spieler/57079/plus/0?saison=2018) for the Black Cats, making just 67 appearances from the 160 league games he was at the club for, a total of just 41 per cent.

A former England international, he found it difficult to fit into Manchester City’s all-star midfield, so his move to Sunderland looked like a good deal all-round.

But somewhere, it all went wrong, and the [**Newcastle Chronicle**](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jack-rodwell-sunderland-contract-opinion-14156656), claimed the player was “pound for pound” “the worst signing in Sunderland’s history”, adding the player cost the club “£4,700 per minute on the pitch”.

So it was a relief, to say the least, when Rodwell and Sunderland agreed to [**terminate his contract**](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/jack-rodwell-agrees-tear-up-14836713) in June, last year, and the reaction from Sunderland fans was joyous in the extreme.

> How fitting that I’m at the Metro Centre when this was announced spent most of his time here! You’ve performed a miracle right there
>
> — Kirsten Reed (@KirstenReed71) [June 27, 2018](https://twitter.com/KirstenReed71/status/1012034619418595334?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> I think it would be fitting if the club named a stand after him, after all he spent 90% of his time sitting in it!!
>
> — Jonny McFadden (@jonnymcfadden) [June 27, 2018](https://twitter.com/jonnymcfadden/status/1012093314387054592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Don’t let the door hit you on the way out
>
> — Steffan White (@steffanwhite) [June 27, 2018](https://twitter.com/steffanwhite/status/1012037601140887557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Just £25m down the drain in transfer fee + wages on that one.. a multimillionaire for the rest of his life thanks to [#SAFC](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).. in return being one of the worst and least committed players in the club’s history.
>
> — mDØN (@mdon874) [June 27, 2018](https://twitter.com/mdon874/status/1012061300644569088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Leave. He never arrived.
>
> — David Bell (@1davebell) [June 27, 2018](https://twitter.com/1davebell/status/1012055990404034560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Goodbye to one of the biggest plonkers in football.
>
> — paul dawson (@darrson) [June 28, 2018](https://twitter.com/darrson/status/1012222368310333445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Good riddance.
>
> — Michelle McCabe (@blackcatmichell) [June 27, 2018](https://twitter.com/blackcatmichell/status/1012106728144605185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> This is even better than watching Germany get knocked out the World Cup
>
> — Katie (@KatieBoo88) [June 27, 2018](https://twitter.com/KatieBoo88/status/1012096433334509568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

***What were your thoughts about the whole Jack Rodwell saga, Sunderland fans? Let us know…***