Everton's academy has produced some unbelievable talent over the years, some of which have gone on to reach their potential elsewhere, and others who have plummeted under the weight of their price tag.
Wayne Rooney is the most successful academy graduate in the club's history and it's highly unlikely they will ever produce someone who will eclipse what he achieved across his career.
Aside from scooping every trophy available at Manchester United, he also overtook Sir Bobby Charlton as the club's all-time top scorer with 253 goals and did the same with England, until Harry Kane blitzed past his record of 53 goals in 120 matches.
Whilst the likes of Rooney surpassed all expectations after departing Goodison Park, others have failed to live up to the potential that their formative years promised, and Jack Rodwell is a prime example of that.
Jack Rodwell's transfer value at Everton
Regarded as the next big thing when he broke into the Everton team aged just 16, Rodwell was one of several English talents who were overhyped in the early stages of their career.
It's common knowledge that any player who makes their Premier League debut at such a tender age is going to have the world watching them and that was the case with Rodwell, who accumulated 109 appearances for the Toffees before turning 21.
After garnering an impressive CV at Goodison, which included that goal against Manchester United in a 3-1 victory, he would soon earn a lucrative move to Manchester City for £15m in 2012.
During this period, the Cityzens needed to fill their quota of homegrown players and considering Rodwell was one of the hottest English prospects at the time, it seemed fitting that the 21-year-old joined the champions.
A box-to-box midfielder, who possessed an ability to drive forward with his strength and power, the Englishman was expected to utilise those attributes in Manchester but found his game time limited as world-class talents Yaya Toure and David Silva kept him out of the team.
Despite showing so much promise, Rodwell's move to Man City ended up being premature, ill-advised and disrupted by injuries as he made just 25 appearances at the club before accepting a £10m transfer to Sunderland in 2014.
Rodwell's transfer value at Sunderland
After joining Sunderland in search of regular game time, he struggled to impress at the Stadium of Light.
Between 2013 and 2017, he went 39 league matches without a win – a record streak of 1370 days.
With the North East giants plummeting into League One in 2018 as a result of their financial carnage, Rodwell was the poster boy for that mismanagement in the transfer window.
He was depicted as a villain during this period as the Netflix Sunderland till I die documentary showcased the repeated attempts made by hapless executives to offload him and his £70,000-per-week salary.
Jack Rodwell rinsed Sunderland dry
Jack Rodwell will go down as arguably the worst signing in Sunderland’s history, for how he drained the club.
Rodwell was eventually released in June 2018 and after making just 76 appearances for the club across four years, saw his expected transfer value (xTV) plummet to €1m (£868k), as per Football Transfers, which is a whopping £9m decrease from what the Black Cats initially signed him for.
Rodwell's transfer value now
It isn't uncommon to see footballers resurrect their careers after seeing them fall to the wayside, but Rodwell continued to fall in value and stature after leaving the Stadium of Light.
Following a spell with Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, he was a free agent again and had unsuccessful trials with New England Revolution and, rather surprisingly, Paulo Fonseca's Roma.
Despite making such a rapid crash, Chris Wilder took a chance on Rodwell in 2019 at Sheffield United, believing the Englishman – who was 28 at the time – could still fulfil his potential as a physically strong, athletic, tough-tackling midfielder.
However, after totalling just 73 minutes of football across 18 months at Bramall Lane, it became clear that taking a gamble on him was never going to pay off.
After being released by the Blades in June 2021, the former Everton starlet has since moved to Australia; first plying his trade for A-League Western Sydney Wanderers and now Sydney FC.
These days, a 32-year-old Rodwell is most likely enjoying a lavished lifestyle down under rather than his football and it's no surprise to see his xTV nosedive to €200k (£173k).
In hindsight, Everton made the right decision to cash in on the 6 foot 2 flop for £15m but Rodwell's career will always be the curious case of what could have been.
