2 hours ago
10
A former England international will earn almost £500,000 for sitting in the stands at Wrexham after being left out of their Championship squad.
Jay Rodriguez signed for the Welsh club in January on an 18-month deal and scored a couple of goals to help them get promoted from League One.
The 36-year-old is known for his stints with Burnley, Southampton, and West Bromwich Albion and even earned an England cap in November 2013 as he played against Chile in a friendly.
But he will have to wait until at least January to contribute to Wrexham's Championship season after being left out of their 24-man squad, which was submitted earlier this month.
Rodriguez is reported to be on £25,000 per week, so backdating the pay to his initial exclusion, he will be in line to have earned almost £500,000 for not playing.
Danny Ward, Andy Cannon, and Ollie Rathbone - but it turns out the latter may receive a lifeline off Phil Parkinson as the club can still add one more player to their squad.
Jay Rodriguez is set to bank a reported £500,000 before he has the chance to play again in the Championship for Wrexham
Parkinson said: ''We need Ollie back, he's a key player for us. He was instrumental for us last year.
'He's a player who has played in the Championship; first year did well, second one was a difficult one at Rotherham because they had a very weak squad.
'But he’s played at this level, and when he signed for us, he was determined to get back into the Championship.
'His energy and his quality, I can’t wait to get Ollie back out with us.'
Despite spending £33million over the summer, fuelled by the Hollywood dosh of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham have had a mixed start to life in the Championship and sit 15th in the table.
Two wins in their last three games have turned around a difficult start to the season, though mid-table is still some way off their likely ambitions.
