The scottish phenomenon, the 40 goal hitman, the prolific goalscorer & one of the most humble players to ever be in a football shirt. We are of course talking about Huddersfield Town striker Jordan Rhodes.
His future is very much still in the balance and where he shall be come the beginning of next season is undecided. Rhodes has always been linked with various other football clubs since joining the terriers and impressing scouts from numerous other clubs with his movement and striker attributes. Yet the season just gone has seen a rise in these clubs interested and rightly so as Rhodes bagged 40 goals in just 45 appearances in all competitions.
Six months ago the Jordan Rhodes saga began with the opening of the January transfer window. Huddersfield Town were flying high up near the top of League One at the time under Lee Clark and the thought of promotion after a disappointing end to last season was on the minds of all the players, including Rhodes. West Ham showed the most interest in January and reports indicated that they had made numerous offers in the region of £4-5 millions pounds and that all of these offers were snubbed by chairman of Huddersfield Town, Dean Hoyle. As speculation continued to circulate linking Rhodes with clubs such as Tottenham, Everton, Villa & West Ham it seemed like Rhodes would no longer be a terrier to all those football fans looking in from the outside. However, those close to Huddersfield Town, such as the fans, all understand the togetherness of the entire squad along with how close Dean Hoyle is to the players and as the January transfer window came to a close, Jordan Rhodes remained a Town player until the end of the season.
No large bids from higher positioned clubs could persuade Dean Hoyle to sell his top scorer but as results failed to impress the chairman and the board of Huddersfield Town, the brave decision to sack Lee Clark was made as the terriers lost their grip on automatic promotion.
As the season drew to a close under new manager Simon Grayson it started to look very unlikely that Town would achieve promotion but that all changed when Jordan Rhodes fired home in the first play off semi final leg away at MK Dons. Rhodes never struggled with the change of managers and seemed to score just as much under Grayson as what he did under Clark. His goal tally was then taken to 40 as he sealed a Wembley date for Huddersfield Town against Sheffield United.
A confident penalty kick from Rhodes in the final was all that was needed from the Scottish international as Huddersfield Town finally managed to gain promotion after 22 penalty kicks and 120 minutes of football. With promotion achieved, the price tag on Rhodes' head has undoubtedly been raised by Huddersfield Town who now hold a place in the second tier of English football.
Rumours have been recently emerging that a near enough done deal has been made with Reading regarding Rhodes which shall see Morrison exchanged along with a lump sum of money and a possibility of another outfield player. In addition to this, Swansea have been thought to be after Jordan's signature and rumours linked him to the club in a deal supposed to be around the £2-4m mark. West Ham are also still very much in the race for the striker that they wanted to sign way back in January and if rumours are to be believed, the premiership new boys have once again made multiple bids for the striker.
As the start of the new season edges closer with every day that goes by, Rhodes remains a Town player but for how long? Dean Hoyle and Nigel Clibbens have both reiterated that they shall only sell if the right offer is made but what's to say a deal has not already been arranged behind closed doors? The saga continues but no matter what happens, Rhodes will always be a legend at The Galpharm and one of the hottest young prospects that the club has ever had in its history.
Update 2/8/12
The deal between Reading and Jordan Rhodes seems to have fallen through as both clubs could not agree on a deal which could of seen Sean Morrison coming to the John Smith's Stadium as Rhodes went the other way. New rumors have just recently surfaced claiming that Huddersfield Town have accepted an offer from fellow Championship club Blackburn Rovers for Jordan Rhodes. The fee is accordingly in the region of £6m and this has indeed met the valuation that the terriers had put on the Scottish striker. If the rumors are to be believed (as reported by Daily Mail) then Blackburn Rovers have been allowed to speak with the striker in order to negotiate a contract that will see him head to Ewood Park.
Update 10/8/12
Blackburn Rovers went public with their bid for Jordan Rhodes before it was rejected by Dean Hoyle at a reported £2m. Blackburn came back with a fresh bid for England's top goalscorer a few days later but today that has been reported to have been rejected by Sky Sports who understands the bid was still around the £2m mark.
Update 9/9/12
Jordan Rhodes has now officially left Huddersfield Town for a record fee of £8m. The striker left for the Lancashire club on the 30th August and has since appeared for Rovers in his debut against Leeds United which ended 3-3. Huddersfield Town were keen to state that once the player asked to speak to the club then the deal was on. The terriers are yet to invest the £8m into new players due to the transfer window closing.
