Are Celtic eyeing Jack Rodwell as a long-term replacement for Scott Brown?

Follow us on Google Discover

The former Manchester City star went through a similar torrid time as Scott Sinclair, and look what the Celtic man has achieved since.

Celtic’s interest in Sunderland’s Jack Rodwell, 26, was not met well by Hoops fans. The Sunderland Echo claimed the Bhoys were interested in the midfielder, and the thought of the former Everton and Manchester City man in a Celtic shirt seemed to pain the Bhoys faithful. However this is perhaps a little harsh on the England international.

Taking Scott Sinclair, 28, as an example, arguably Celtic’s best player over the last 18 months, he too was in a very similar position to Rodwell.

Playing well for his mid-to-low-table Premier League club Sinclair earned a big career move to Manchester City following his impressive performances. As can happen at the Blues, however, the former Swansea City player barely featured and spent most of the time on loan before securing a permanent move away to Aston Villa.

Having missed out on a few years of football and then experiencing relegation with Villa, it would be fair to say that Sinclair’s career had come to a stand-still.

But what happened when he moved to Celtic? He scored 25 goals in his first season, playing an integral part in their unbeaten treble winning campaign.

If you switched around Rodwell for Sinclair and a couple of the clubs names, all of the above would apply just as much. In fact, Rodwell even played more games for City, picking up a Premier League winners’ medal in 2013/2014, something that Sinclair never achieved.

There is no doubt that Rodwell has offered little in recent times, having only featured on three occasions this season, but with Sunderland prepared to cancel his contract and allow him to leave for free, Celtic may well be the place for him to reignite his career which once had so much potential.

With Scott Brown ageing and Rodgers often deploying more attacking central midfielders such as Stuart Armstrong or Callum McGregor in a midfield two to partner the veteran, Rodwell may be a suitable deputy to the captain in defensive midfield, acting as the shield in front of the defence to allow the Bhoys’ creative attackers to thrive.

One thing is for surely certain and that is that Rodwell would relish the chance to partner up with his old City teammate and play in front of the famous Celtic Park crowd.