Former Newcastle and Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas is joining BBC Sport full-time after signing a new two-year deal to become one of its leading football pundits.
Jenas, 31, who has appeared as a regular TV pundit for various broadcasters so far this season, will now feature exclusively across the BBC’s football programmes such as Match of the Day, Football Focus and on BBC Radio 5 live Sport, while he assesses his own future playing options.
He will link up with fellow BBC Sport regulars such as Alan Shearer, Danny Murphy and Robbie Savage, and joins a host of other new faces to the corporation’s punditry team for this season, including the likes of Phil Neville and Ruud Gullit.
Jenas won 21 caps for England and was included in the national squad for the 2006 World Cup under former manager Sven Goran Eriksson.
He has played at club level for Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers, scoring 38 goals so far in his playing career.
After starting his career at Forest, Jenas joined Newcastle for £5m and won the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Young Player of the Year award in 2003.
He moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2005 and then went on to have spells at Aston Villa and QPR, though he has been a free agent since his contract with Harry Redknapp’s side expired at the end of the 2013-14 season.
Jenas’ first punditry role this season came with ITV in a Tottenham pre-season friendly and he also appeared on the commercial channel’s Champions League and Europa League coverage, alongside regular appearances for the BBC across its football programming.
The former England midfielder’s first assignments as an exclusive BBC pundit will be this weekend (November 29-30) on BBC One’s Saturday afternoon results programme Final Score, as well as Sunday’s edition of Match of the Day 2, also on BBC One.
Commenting on his new BBC deal, Jenas said: “I am delighted to be joining the BBC football team on a long-term basis and to appear on programmes I have grown up watching as a boy.
“I have really enjoyed being involved in the programmes so far and feel the BBC is the best place for me to continue to develop as a broadcaster.”
Mark Cole, BBC’s Lead Executive, Football, said: “Jermaine has really impressed in his recent studio appearances and we’re delighted to have him as part of the BBC Football team, across all our platforms.
“We have placed an extra emphasis on involving studio guests who are close to the game and we hope Jermaine will continue to offer his fresh insight, analysis and expertise across our output.”
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