Owls targeting summer swoop for prolific poacher Rhodes

Championship top-six chances Sheffield Wednesday (50/1) look set to make an audacious £12m bid for Blackburn Rovers (33/1) and Scotland striker Jordan Rhodes in the summer, according to reports.

The Owls were recently the subject of a £37.5m takeover by Dejphon Chansiri, and the Thai businessman is said to be willing to spend big in his new side’s aim for a return to the top flight. Wednesday have not played Premier League football since the 1999/00 season.

Currently, the Yorkshire club sit in 10th in the table, one point ahead of Rovers, who have a game in hand, but 13 behind the play-offs.

Wednesday boss Stuart Gray has seemingly given up on his club’s chances of finishing in the Championship play-off places, and has already stated that his side need a 20-goal-a-season striker. Currently no Owl has managed scored double figures this term, with Atdhe Nuhiu being top with nine.

“Look at the teams who achieved promotion out of the Championship last year and what their strikers delivered for them,” Gray said.

“Burnley had Danny Ings, QPR had Charlie Austin and Leicester had David Nugent. All three of them got 20-plus goals.”

While Rhodes has not been as prolific this season as in his previous three, when he scored at least 25 times in the league for Blackburn and former side Huddersfield Town, he hasn’t had as much game time as he would have liked.

The English-born 11-capped Scotland striker has largely played second fiddle to in-form Rudy Gestede this term, and as a result could be looking for a way out.

He has also largely been left out of Blackburn’s impressive FA Cup run, and was an unused substitute against Liverpool in their quarter-final draw. You can back Rovers at 33/1 to win the famous trophy.