Leeds United wanted to sign Jordan Rhodes from Sheffield Wednesday as a replacement for the Burnley-bound Chris Wood.
Jordan Rhodes was one of the hottest prospects outside the Premier League just a few years ago and it seemed only a matter of time before this most natural of goalscorers was gracing the top flight with his predatory brilliance.
He broke Huddersfield Town’s all-time club record when scoring 36 goals in the 2011/12 League One season to earn an £8 million move to Blackburn Rovers in the summer (Examiner), thus becoming the most expensive player in the history of England’s second tier.
Since then, however, Rhodes’ goals tally has dropped season on season. From 27 in an excellent debut season at Ewood Park, the Scot then netted 25, 21, 16 and three in the four years since, taking in a disappointing spell at Middlesbrough.
These days, Rhodes cannot even get into Sheffield Wednesday’s starting XI despite moving to Hillsborough in January for £10 million (The Mirror). Four of his six Championship appearances have come from the bench this season and he is still yet to score a goal in 2017/18.
Therefore, Leeds United won’t be losing much sleep despite reports in The Sun claiming that they wanted to rescue Rhodes from Wednesday in the summer.
The Scottish international will be hoping to end his barren streak when Leeds travel to Hillsborough on Sunday but the fact that he is not guaranteed a place in Carlos Carvalhal’s first-team shows how far he’s fallen.
In the meantime, Leeds landed Pierre-Michel Lasogga on loan from Hamburg and he has three goals to his name already.
Rhodes has already proven an expensive disappointment for Boro and Wednesday and, on current form, perhaps Leeds were lucky to miss out.
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