If United cant beat Everton starlet Jack Rodwell he might have to join them
21 Nov 2009 - 01:25:54
He had to settle for a watching brief from the bench last season but, as Everton prepare to cross swords with Manchester United again on Saturday evening, Jack Rodwell is surely heading for his first appearance at Old Trafford. One way or another, it won't be his last.
Still four months short of his 19th birthday, Rodwell's status as an automatic pick at the heart of midfield has unsurprisingly made its way on to Sir Alex Ferguson's radar. It raises the possibility of another Everton prodigy moving from Merseyside to Manchester.
Total footballer: Jack Rodwell is cool at the back...but not when he scores (below right)
Wayne Rooney blazed the trail five years ago and many an informed onlooker is tipping Rodwell to tread the same path next summer.
Everton will do their best to resist, naturally, but an air of inevitability attends most transfer manoeuvres involving Ferguson. The day £20million changes hands to provide a new showcase for Rodwell's talents may not be far off.
It could edge a step nearer if the versatile midfielder continues his quest to make Birkdale a byword for football as well as golf by further stalling United's drive for another Barclays Premier League crown.
A tall order for a fresh-faced 18-year-old, perhaps, but Rodwell has been making light of daunting challenges all his life.
He was six when Liverpool advised him to forget football as a career opportunity and just turned 10 when a team of oversized, over-aged adolescents threatened to trample him underfoot in a tournament in Belgium.
The way he survived both ordeals speaks volumes for a widespread belief within Everton's coaching staff that he can go on to fill Rio Ferdinand's boots in central defence. He has England in mind, but his old boss at Birkdale United won't be the least bit surprised if he does it at Old Trafford as well.
'They're getting on a bit at the back at United and I can see him not only going there but eventually moving to centre half,' said Steve Cattlin. 'You can be sure he'd take it in his stride because he has been like that since he started training with us as a six-year-old. I took one look at him and recommended him to Everton straightaway.
'I remember taking him to their Bellefield training ground with his mum and dad and hearing how Liverpool had told him he wasn't good enough. There was never any chance of that happening at Everton. After that first session, Ray Hall, who's now their academy director, told me he would happily pay £50million for him. It may have been a bit tongue in cheek, but it told you what an impression Jack made.
'It was like watching a younger version of how he is now. He concentrated on the simple things but did them so well. There was a calm assurance about the way he kept the ball and passed it and even then he was very athletic. Ray made it clear he had a future at Everton and that really counted with Jack's family when Liverpool came back in soon after.
'They realised they had made a mistake and offered him a fresh start, but his dad Malcolm told me, "Everton have been really good with Jack. We're sticking with them". There was so much that impressed me about Jack then. I used to watch from the touchline and think he was going to be like his uncle, Tony Rodwell, who had one of the best left feet in the game when he played for Blackpool nearly 20 years ago.
'Then another of the coaches would join me and rave about a pass he'd pinged with his right and it suddenly hit me that he was one of the most two-footed kids I'd ever seen. It was unusual for a lad his age, but it just felt natural to receive the ball on either side and play it with that foot.
'Nothing fazed him, either, and that was never more evident than when we went to a tournament in Belgium. It was supposed to be for 10-year-olds, but the locals seemed to make the rules up as they went along, because the team we faced were a good five years older.
Enlarge 'They all had sideburns and at least one of them had grown a beard! They towered over our boys and I thought, "Oh no, here we go". You could see the apprehension on a few faces, but not Jack's. He was never one for saying much, but he didn't bat an eyelid. Never flinched. He went out and ran rings round lads who were virtually grown men. We only lost 3-2, which was incredible given the difference in size, and Jack got the man-of-the-match award.
'He has always had that steeliness about him and that's one reason why I'm sure he would thrive at Old Trafford. If you are ambitious, you want to better yourself and it would be a natural progression. Size and strength wouldn't be a problem at the back, either. He'll carry on growing for a couple of years yet. It's not the be all and end all anyway - not when you can read the game like Jack can.'
An irate Everton boss David Moyes insisted there had been no contact from United but stopped short of claiming Rodwell would never be sold, following the saga of Joleon Lescott's acrimonious move to Manchester City.
'Why is it inevitable Jack will go?' he asked. 'I can't turn round and say it will never happen because I said that about Lescott, but we have heard nothing so far. I haven't had a single phone call and I can tell you we are not sitting on any offer.'
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