Pound for pound, Jack Rodwell must be the worst signing in Sunderland’s history.
A £10m fee, wages of £70,000 per week, a five-year contract - and for what? A injury-plagued player who has managed less than 45 league starts in three-and-a-half seasons, 76 appearances in all, and who, for me, has impressed in none of them.
Taking fee and salary into account, that is £299,000 per appearance. Or, if you prefer, more than £4,700 per minute he has spent on the pitch in first-team action.
Sunderland have signed some dreadful players over the years - and in terms of ability, Rodwell is nowhere near the worst - but, as mistakes go, his signing was a doozy.
Incredibly, back in 2014 when sporting director Lee Congerton was in charge of recruitment, Margaret Byrne was the chief executive in charge of handing out contracts, and Gus Poyet was head coach, the arrival of the England international from Manchester City was seen as a coup.
Fast forward to 2018 and he is a millstone around the club’s neck, inherited by manager Chris Coleman and Byrne’s successor Martin Bain.
Rodwell was the only member of the squad whose contract did not include a 40 per cent salary reduction following relegation from the Premier League.
That is not Rodwell’s fault, and nor is the size of his paypacket - his agent played a blinder.
But it means Rodwell is now far and away the club’s best-paid player, even though his contribution has been negligible.
Now he has told Sunderland that he wants to leave, and the club has offered to tear up his contract - although they have yet to receive a response.
The problem is that Rodwell still has 18 months left on his deal and would have to write-off around £5.4m in lost wages.
But the ball is now in his court.
He has already earned around £12.7m during his time at Sunderland, and he must decide what is more important - his football career, or his bank balance.
He should also consider the bigger picture.
Whenever Rodwell has been interviewed, he has always spoken about what a great club a Sunderland is.
Read More
Sunderland Transfer News
But he knows that Sunderland is now financially on its knees and can no longer afford him.
At the last count, the club had debts of £110m and was making losses north of £30m each season. It was relegated from the Premier League last season and unless its fortunes change dramatically, it could suffer another relegation and be playing in League One next term.
Last summer the club’s entire transfer budget amounted to just £1.25m - Rodwell has earned more than that in wages for his 159 minutes of first-team football this season.
Coleman needs every penny that can be scraped together to bring in reinforcements this month to give Sunderland the best possible chance of avoiding the very real prospect of slipping into the third tier.
Rodwell will not play a part in Sunderland’s survival fight on the pitch, but by agreeing to cancel his contract he could at least do something to help the cause.
It is time for both parties to cut their losses.
It’s time to hit the road, Jack.