Joe Rothwell: Rangers to have zero regrets over Sheffield United transfer exit
Joe Rothwell hasn’t enjoyed a fruitful first few months with Sheffield United since leaving Rangers in this season’s winter transfer window.
The 31-year-old only joined Rangers in the summer, signing from Premier League side Bournemouth in a permanent deal in July last year.
He was signed when Gers were under the management of Russell Martin, whom Rothwell had played under during his time at Southampton.
Unfortunately, as was the case for Martin, his time in Glasgow would be ill-fated, making just eight Scottish Premiership appearances during the first half of the 2025-26 campaign.
And so, on deadline day of this season’s winter transfer window, it was already time for the experienced campaigner to call time on his short-lived Gers career.
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How has Joe Rothwell fared with Sheffield United?
It was a surprise to many seeing how Rothwell’s time with Rangers panned out, as he had been a key player for Leeds United during their Championship title-winning campaign of last season.
Indeed, the former Manchester United youngster played 36 times for the Whites in the second tier in 2024-25, starting 24 of those and providing four assists.
| Rothwell’s 25-26 Scottish Premiership stats | Result |
| Appearances | 8 |
| Big chances created | 2 |
| Pass accuracy | 90% |
| Balls recovered per game | 2.8 |
| Dribble success | 80% |
| Total duels won | 47% |
However, Rothwell just wasn’t able to cement a starting role at Ibrox, and with the manager in Martin that brought him to Glasgow soon gone, it became clear pretty much straight away that he wasn’t in Danny Rohl‘s plans.
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was all too happy to snap him up during the winter window though, bringing him to Bramall Lane to bolster his engine room with a proven player at English Championship level.
Given his age and his recent experience with Leeds, Rothwell clearly didn’t see himself playing enough minutes at Rangers to satisfy his wishes as he moves towards the twilight years of his career.
But, his opening few months as a Sheffield United player probably haven’t been as fruitful as he would’ve liked, and won’t be having Rangers decision-makers questioning whether they made the right call or not letting him go.
He’s played just seven times in all competitions for Blades so far, starting just three Championship games, and as per Sofascore, has created zero big chances and is averaging just 30.1 touches per game.
Rothwell has a passing accuracy of 87 per cent, has recovered 1.6 balls per game, won 0.6 tackles per game, completed 50 per cent of his dribbles and won 60 per cent of his duels respectively.
Rangers have got younger and better with Tochi Chukwuani
One of the big reasons why Rothwell was allowed to depart Ibrox in the winter was thanks to the arrival of Tochi Chukwuani.
The 23-year-old joined during the second week of January, and has taken to life in Glasgow in very impressive fashion.
He’s already got four goals to his name from 13 total appearances, and is well on his way to establishing himself as a key starter in the middle of the park.
Therefore, letting swapping Rothwell for Chukwuani has provided Gers with a significant upgrade in the engine room, has allowed them to get much younger at the position, and has boosted their chances of winning the Scottish Premiership title.
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