Everton Football Club News

• Nickname:Toffees
• Founded:1878
• Manager:David Moyes

• Ground:Goodison Park
• Capacity:42,440

Rodwell inks new Everton deal

19 Feb 2009 - 14:14:50

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Everton manager David Moyes thinks Jack Rodwell has a big future in the game after the teenager penned a new five-year deal with the club.

The 17-year-old, who is a product of Everton's academy, scored his first goal for the Toffees in Sunday's FA Cup fifth round victory against Aston Villa.

Rodwell made his first-team debut for the club in last season's UEFA Cup victory at AZ Alkmaar and has gone on to make 15 more appearances for Moyes' side.

The Everton boss said: "When we get good young players, we want to sign them up and keep them here. That's always the way that we've gone about it.

"Jack's got a long way to go and it wasn't ideal that we had to pitch him in at the start of the season. We threw him in at the deep end.

"He played well in those games at times but we took him away from it for a while to give him a break and let him see what it's all about.

"But when he came back in against Liverpool he looked really good and he made a big contribution against Aston Villa. The signs from him were positive."