Everton starlet Jack Rodwell has decided to commit his future to the club by signing a new five-year contract at the club, and the teenager has done well to resist the lure of the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

According to speculation, Sir Alex Ferguson had targeted the 19-year-old as his main summer signing and was set to offer a fee believed to be £15m for the Everton youngster. However Everton manager, David Moyes was quick to offer Rodwell a new deal so that he didn’t risk losing his exciting prospect.

Rodwell has been quick to praise Moyes for his management skills saying, “He’s been brilliant with me, and not just me but with the other youngsters as well. His track record has been brilliant and it’s been no different with me and I’m very happy to work under him.”

Moyes had previously warned Rodwell that he could regret leaving Everton too soon, he said: “Some of the players who have left Everton might say it was the right place for them after all. At the end of their careers, they might look back and say Everton was the best time, they enjoy it here. Even Gravesen, who went to Madrid, would say the same thing. There are lots of players who are going to look back at Everton and say they had a really good time, without winning anything obviously.”

Although by moving on to United, Rodwell would have undoubtedly been much more likely to win things with them than if he stayed at Everton. He could of risked becoming another player that has left them and not progressed like Thomas Gravesen, Joleon Lescott and Francis Jeffers. Of course Wayne Rooney made an almost identical move from Everton to United and has become a great player in doing so but the fact is, it doesn’t work out for everyone. Far too many players are tempted by big teams but often find themselves on the fringes of the first-team and either sold or loaned out within a year or two.

There is also no guarantee that Rodwell would have been able to break into the United side either, but at Everton he will have a greater opportunity of regular first-team football and this will only help his development as a player. Whereas at United he would have to work a lot harder to gain a first-team spot as the competition there will be much more intense.

Rodwell’s show of loyalty should serve as an example to Steven Pienaar. The South African midfielder has been linked with a move to Spurs but he needs to think if he really wants to give up first-team football to be at best rotated in and out of the side. As the form of Tottenham’s midfield this season has been fantastic and Pienaar will struggle immensely to get into the team next year, so he would be better off staying put.

Although Moyes had admitted that they might need to sell a few players so that they can strengthen the squad to compete for the European places in the Premiership. He clearly sees Rodwell as an integral part of his team and someone that can be at the club for many years to come.

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