Richard Sutcliffe: Jordan Rhodes now has to prove the wait was worth it for Sheffield Wednesday

The 26-year-old has joined the Owls, initially on loan but with a deal worth between £8-9m agreed for the summer, after calling time on an unhappy year in Middlesbrough.

Much is expected of Rhodes, who before heading to Teesside as the man charged with getting Boro into the Premier League, was as reliable a goalscorer as the Championship had seen in years.

In three full seasons with a struggling Blackburn Rovers, he never once failed to breach the 20-league goals mark. Last term, his 25 appearances for Rovers yielded 10 goals before the £9m move to the Riverside that brought another half dozen strikes, including a brace in a crucial 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers.

Despite that, Aitor Karanka always looked like a manager who had neither sanctioned the signing nor rated the former Huddersfield Town striker.

Wednesday, though, will be hoping Boro’s loss can very much be their gain and the man himself is certainly itching to get going.

“I have always said that Hillsborough is my favourite away ground and I am really looking forward to playing there,” said Rhodes after agreeing a deal until the summer of 2021.

“This is a club that I have held dear to my heart for a few years now. There is real great tradition about the club and I am looking forward to getting started.

“I have one or two good memories of scoring goals at Hillsborough but fans won’t thank me for that. Hopefully, I can score one or two in the blue and white colours of Sheffield Wednesday now.”

Rhodes’s record in S6 stands at a phenomenal seven goals from his last four appearances. Those Owls fans inside Hillsborough on the penultimate Saturday before Christmas in 2011 as Rhodes bagged all four in Huddersfield Town’s 4-4 draw may not have been too enamoured with the striker back then but the opposite is very much true now he is on board.

It is why there was huge concern among Wednesdayites when suggestions emerged after the window had closed on Tuesday night that the paperwork for the deal had not been filed before the 11pm cut-off point.

The Yorkshire Post understands the deadline was met with just seconds to spare, the situation complicated by the transfer involving a club from the Premier League and Football League, and the need for papers to be filed with both.

Boro’s insistence on the loan being accompanied by an agreement set in stone that Wednesday buy Rhodes in the summer also lengthened talks to the point that time almost ran out.

Still, Wednesday got the deal through and that’s all that matters in terms of a season that, despite some impressive results, is yet to truly fire.

Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Bristol City was two points dropped and the sense of frustration was only added to at the final whistle when Derby County’s win at Ipswich Town meant Carlos Carvalhal’s side had slipped out of the top six for the first time in six weeks.

The big question now is how Rhodes fits into the Portuguese’s plans and who he sees as the ideal partnership up front. Tomorrow night’s trip to Wigan should bring a fascinating hint.

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