Sheffield Wednesday reportedly want £7m for Jordan Rhodes according to The Sun on Sunday and reported here by HITC.com.
The speculation that Norwich City would like to permanently sign Rhodes, who scored 6 league goals while on loan with the Canaries last season but became a very popular figure amongst the Canary nation, has been around for a couple of weeks now but the caveat was always “only if the price is right.”
Rhodes is rumoured to be among the highest earners at Wednesday and probably the whole Sky Bet Championship. Depending on which figure you choose to believe, Jordan is said to be earning somewhere between £40-50k per week.
That huge salary is going to be tough to pay for any Championship club, no matter how big they are, so it had been thought that the Owls might be keen to offload that salary for a lower transfer fee.
Wednesday Manager, Steve Bruce, when speaking towards the end of the season, alluded to an agreement between the two clubs for Norwich to purchase Rhodes but that all parties needed to sit down and discuss it. He also said that he’d have seven strikers including Rhodes next season, which was too many in his opinion.
Only last week the Pink ‘Un were reporting that there was a Buy Option in the original loan deal.
City had a buy option inserted in the original loan deal but are believed to favour thrashing out a reduced fee as Rhodes approaches the final 12 months of his current Hillsborough contract.
The Sun are suggesting that Wednesday are pricing Jordan at £7m in an attempt to see off City’s interest and I have to say, I can’t see us paying that, or indeed, the player being worth that much.
The reports from The Pink ‘Un and The Sun seem to be a bit contradictory unless the original fee had been set at £7m but with Rhodes entering the final 12 months of his contract, that seems unlikely.
With City having paid a reported £1m loan fee plus a six-figure promotion bonus to Wednesday, the Owls have already done ok out of City with Vital Norwich understanding that the Canaries paid all of Rhodes’ salary last season.
It’s difficult to know what to believe here but I have to side with the local media reports over The Sun’s. Don’t give up on Jordan joining permanently just yet.
OTBC