Jordan Rhodes wants Blackburn stay

As quickly as the Jordan Rhodes rumor popped up, it now seems to be dying at an even faster rate. On Wednesday, Blackburn Rovers manager Gary Bowyer told clubs on the hunt for star striker Jordan Rhodes to back off by publicly stating that the player was simply "not for sale." Today, Jordan Rhodes has echoed those sentiments by coming out and saying that he would like to stay at Ewood Park.

Speaking on BBC Radio Lancashire, Rhodes said:

"I love coming into Blackburn Rovers because it's a fantastic environment.

"We're going to have a really good team spirit this year and it's something I want to be a part of. For as long as I'm welcome, you're stuck with me.

"In certain games and certain scenarios, we didn't do great. Towards the end, everyone around us seemed to be picking up points and we managed to get ourselves sucked into a bit of a relegation battle.

"When the going got tough, we really stepped up to the plate and managed to come up with some good results.

"You know what the Championship's like - if you put two or three wins together, suddenly you're a half-decent team, and if you lose three or four, you're looking at the other end of the table."

In his one season at Blackburn after being signed by Steve Kean (we've lost count of how many managers they have had since then), Rhodes scored 28 times in all competitions with 27 of those goals coming in the league. He scored 33 times for club and country over the course of the year. Rhodes, a Scotland international, made his debut for the senior side in 2011 and has since earned nine caps with three goals to his name. Wanderers have not had a 20+ goal per season striker in their ranks since Michael Ricketts performed the feat in the 2000/01 season.