According to Football Insider, Sheffield Wednesday ‘rebuffed’ Celtic’s ‘interest’ in Jordan Rhodes back in January, despite the 30-year-old being ‘very keen’ to move on after falling out of favour.
Rhodes has spent most of the season on the periphery under Garry Monk, so Wednesday’s decision to reject Celtic may seem strange. The 30-year-old worked his way back into the team while Steven Fletcher was injured, however, so Monk wanted to keep a prolific striker at his disposal.
Rhodes has contributed 129 goals in 286 Championship games, so he was deemed a better option than Sam Winnall (two goals in 17 games this season) and Atdhe Nuhiu (four goals in 33 games).
Fletcher made only one league appearance between mid-December and mid-February due to illness and a knee injury, so the 30-year-old was brought in from the cold. He bagged a hat-trick in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest (December 14) and was given a run in the side until the end of January.
Celtic were linked with Rhodes in December, but the Owls had no intention on letting the striker leave. However, with Monk dropping the 30-year-old in February and not giving him another minute of football before the season was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he may be wishing he let Rhodes leave.
