Could Rangers make controversial double signing from Championship giants?
28-year-old, 6’ 1” Sheffield Wednesday striker Jordan Rhodes is believed to have Stevie Gerrard’s interest to secure him for the right money.
He has experience and a decent scoring record having played for Ipswich, Oxford, Rochdale, Brentford, Huddersfield, Blackburn, Middlesbrough and now at Sheffield Wednesday.
At only 18, Jordan went on loan to Brentford (remember them?) in League Two and played in 14 games and scored 7 goals. A magnificent achievement for such a young striker.
In the summer of 2009 League One side Huddersfield Town paid £350,000 plus an agreed sell-on fee to sign Rhodes. In season 2011–12, he was top scorer in England with 36 league goals, breaking the Terriers’ scoring record. He played in 148 games and scored 87 goals before his 4-year-contract ran out.
Rhodes moved to Blackburn Rovers in 2013 for a club record of £8m and became POTY scoring 28 goals in his 1st year in the Championship. On 19 Apr, ‘15, Rhodes was in The Football Manager Team of the Decade Awards. Wow, what an honour!
A hot striker in July 2015, Blackburn rejected an offer of £10m from Middlesbrough, and Jordan played a total of 169 matches scoring 85 goals for the Ewood Park side.
On 1 Feb, ‘16, Rhodes signed for Middlesbrough, on a four-and-a-half-year deal for £9m. He played in only 18 matches and scored 6 goals in his 1st season, although his team did go up to the EPL, where he only managed to play in 6 games without scoring.
On 1 Feb, ‘17, after only a year at Middlesbrough, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday, on loan for 4 months. It was successful and Jordan signed on a permanent basis on 1 Jul, ‘17. Two bosses in a row failed to use him and he scored only four goals in 28 matches.
Born in England, Rhodes opted to play for Scotland and played for both U21’s and as a full internationalist.
So while it seems clear Rangers are interested in Wednesday’s Rhodes, could another controversial signature be on the cards from the same team? With Rangers’ need for decent defenders, Stevie G has been linked with West Ham’s James Collins and Reece Burke, Brighton’s Connor Goldson and Swansea’s Kyle Bartley – but three of them will cost a chunk of cash. However the next gentleman has been suggested in some quarters as a possible addition too.
Glenn Loovens, the 6’ 2” 34-year-old ex-captain of Sheffield Wednesday, confirmed he has left the Championship side at the end of his contract. Over a four-and-a-half-year period for the Owls he played in 150 matches and gave incredible service on and off the pitch between 2013 -18.
When he was younger and after a successful loan spell with Cardiff City in the Championship, Loovens turned his loan into a permanent move and played 113 games between 2005 – 08.
In the summer of 2008, Glenn transferred to Scotland with Celtic for about £2.3m where he won a title, one Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup. He played in 89 games for our bitter rivals during a four-year stay which ended in 2012.
He played 6 games for the Dutch U21’s and managed to achieve his dream of playing twice for the full international team. In 2009, he started in his debut match in a 3-0 victory over Japan.
Glenn finally left Celtic in 2012 (yes, a fair old while ago) to play 24 times for Real Zaragoza in La Liga, the top Spanish league and he coped well against some of the best forwards in the world.
In 2013, Sheffield Wednesday brought him back from Spain to play in the Championship. They were in trouble in second bottom place when Loovens joined the club. He became their captain in 2014 and was the backbone of their defence right up until last week.
Should the ‘Gers consider adding Loovens’ experience and defending ability because he is free to sign? Would the fans accept an-ex-Celt playing for the blues? He is an older defender that could certainly do a good job for whoever signs him.
Landing the right 2 or 3 central defenders is going to be paramount to Rangers mounting a real challenge to Celtic this season, and Loovens may help to steady the rocky defensive problems of the last few seasons.
Do you think Gerrard should consider luring Glenn Loovens to join him with his brand new Rangers revolution on top of the interest in Rhodes?