Jordan Rhodes has had an excellent start to life on loan at Blackpool and a converted penalty away at Barnsley on Saturday was his fifth goal this season in as many games.
The veteran frontman joined Huddersfield Town at the beginning of the 2021/22 campaign after leaving Sheffield Wednesday following the expiration of his contract with the Owls. Rhodes had already spent time with the Terriers, having scored 87 goals for the club during a nine-year stint from 2009 to 2013.
Unfortunately, Rhodes’s second spell at the John Smith’s Stadium didn’t go to plan and the experienced striker scored merely eight goals in 55 league appearances and was loaned out to Blackpool at the start of the current campaign.
Nevertheless, Rhodes has hit the ground running at Bloomfield Road, scoring five goals in five matches under Neil Critchley. According to journalist Alan Nixon on his exclusive Patreon, Huddersfield Town hold the right to recall the 33-year-old to help bolster Darren Moore’s attacking department.
Nixon is claiming that there is a break period in the contract which is activated on January 2, when Moore would be allowed to recall Rhodes back to Huddersfield.
The duo did work together previously for a brief period of time during Rhodes’ spell at Hillsborough when Moore first came to the club towards the back end of the 2020/21 campaign.
Critchley’s comments
However, speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s huge clash against Derby County, Blackpool head coach Neil Critchley has spoken out about the rumours.
The ex-Aston Villa coach has revealed that he isn’t worried about potentially losing Rhodes during the January window [quotes via The Blackpool Gazzette]:
“Every loan player you have has an automatic recall in January. That’s not just the case for Blackpool- it’s every club across the country. There’s always a clause, it’s always there.
“It’s nothing new, it’s just something you have to deal with closer to the time. It’s happened before, you’ve just got to be ready for all outcomes,” he continued.
“We’ve only just gone into October, so we’ve got him for the next few months for definite.”
Writer’s View
Most loans will have a recall clause, so Critchley is correct, but there is, of course, a chance that Blackpool lose Rhodes in three months if Huddersfield Town recall the striker.
That being said, if the Terriers are flying at that point and are scoring lots of goals, the possibility of a recall happening is slim. Context in three months will be key here.
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