A Jordan Rhodes move to Queens Park Rangers could give Sheffield Wednesday much-needed transfer wriggle room

The relegation-threatened Owls need signings to better balance their squad but as with just about every club in the Football League, money is tight during the Covid-19 pandemic. Wednesday's failure to pay the players' wages on time and in full, whilst since rectified, highlights the difficult financial position they are in.

With 30-year-old Rhodes in the final months of his Hillsborough contract, the Owls are unlikely to get a transfer fee for their unwanted striker, but even to take some of his wages off the payroll will help their recruitment efforts.

Rhodes joined from Middlesbrough for a club record fee of £8m in 2017, on wages to match.

He signed his contract with a reputation not dissimilar to the one Patrick Bamford is currently shaking off at Leeds United – as a proven Championship goalscorer but with doubts about his ability to replicate that in the top division. However his star has been on the wane since prolific spells at Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers.

A £12m move to the Riverside garnered six goals in 24 appearances, and 12 months later he moved to Wednesday, initially on loan.

Three goals in 18 matches helped the team to fourth in the Championship but they lost on penalties to Huddersfield in the play-off semi-finals with Rhodes on the bench for both legs.

Since joining permanently he has added nine goals in 61 appearances. Having worked for five permanent managers at Hillsborough, his struggles cannot be put down to a clash of personalities.

Rhodes scored a hat-trick at Nottingham Forest in December 2019 but it neither translated into a run of games in the side, nor the transfer that would have been better for all parties. He has scored once since, at Cardiff City in September.

The Scotland international has made three starts this season, one for Tony Pulis, who handed him the indignity of substituting him as a substitute at home to Stoke City.

Pulis's arrival in mid-November raised hopes of a fresh start, and Rhodes being put up for media duty before the Welshman's first game, at Preston North End, itself looked a good sign but it would prove a cruel false dawn which only highlighted the desperate need for both parties to move on.

“We've got a new manager in place and it's up to me and everybody else to try and impress,” said Rhodes in that press conference.

“I want to be here. I've worked really hard to get here and I've got a fond connection to Sheffield Wednesday as well so I'm desperate to do well.”

Pulis was without the injured Jack Marriott throughout his 45-day tenure and the suspended Josh Windass for all but the first 17 minutes of his opening four matches, repeatedly said Callum Paterson was a midfielder not a centre-forward, and only used Elias Kachunga for 48 minutes, yet still there was no place for Rhodes.

Caretaker manager Neil Thompson turned to Kachunga from the bench before Rhodes when Windass picked up an injury in the New Year's Day win over Derby County which lifted the Owls out of the relegation zone.

Relegation-threatened QPR have shown an interest in Rhodes before and their need for a goalscorer in pressing having only scored 20 times in 22 Championship games.

Four of Lyndon Dykes's five goals have been penalties and fellow summer signing Macauley Bonne has only scored twice.

The Owls may have to subsidise part of Rhodes's wages to move him on early, but doing so could free up funds for the changes needed to the squad.

Former Chesterfield and Portsmouth manager Paul Cook has been strongly linked to the vacant manager's post, but chairman Dejphon Chansiri has indicated such is the pressing need for signings, he would be prepared to make some without a new manager if an appointment dragged out.

“If we can wait, we will wait (to sign players) until the new coach comes in but if I can't bring a new manager in in a couple of weeks of course I'm going to bring (players) in because we know what we want and the new manager is going to want good players,” he said.

“We already have the list of players we want to bring in and we've already talked to some players. We've sent offers out.”

Cardiff City manager Neil Harris may have been exaggerating slightly, but not much, when he said recently: “No football club is going to be spending money in January because it's just not possible.”

On the situation at Hillsborough, Chansiri said: “I do not expect any club to spend too much in January. Sometimes the transfer fee is less than the wages so whether it's a loan, a free transfer or a (paid-for) transfer it's still a lot of money.”

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