Sheffield Wednesday: Owls face anxious wait over Jordan Rhodes

Football League officials are meeting to determine whether or not all the paperwork was finalised before last night’s 11pm deadline.

Souces close to Wednesday say the Championship club filed their paperwork in time after racing to get the deal done before Tuesday’s deadline.

Should the League decide the transfer was not registered before the FIFA-regulated cut off point, Rhodes will remain on Middlesbrough’s books for the rest of the campaign.

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Rhodes, a long-time transfer target, underwent a medical at Hillsborough last night ahead of joining the Owls on loan from Boro until the end of the season, with a view to it automatically being converted into a permanent switch in the summer.

Scotland international Rhodes has only made six appearances for Middlesbrough this season but scored five goals as the Teesiders secured promotion to the Premier League.

Boro boss Aitor Karanka heaped praise on Rhodes following their 1-1 midweek home draw with West Bromwich Albion.

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“My message if Jordan leaves is that I wish him all the best as his attitude this year in every single training session and in every game and every minute he’s played for this club has been amazing,” he said.

Rhodes, whose father Andy is Wednesday’s goalkeeping coach, began his career with Ipswich and had loan spells with Oxford, Rochdale and Brentford before joining Huddersfield in July 2009.

Rhodes plundered 73 goals in 124 league appearances for the Terriers. He memorably bagged four goals against the Owls in Huddersfield’s extraordinary 4-4 draw at Hillsborough in 2011. The Terriers went up via the play-offs.

Blackburn Rovers splashed out £8m to secure his services in August 2012 following their relegation from the Premier League and he went on to score 83 goals in 159 outings.

He moved to the Riverside just over a year ago but has struggled to command a regular starting spot. Rhodes has slipped further down in the pecking order following the January arrivals of strikers Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford.

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