Huddersfield Town massively benefitted from Roy Keane's £350k mistake at Ipswich Town: View | OneFootball

Striker Jordan Rhodes has reignited his career on loan at Blackpool from Huddersfield Town this season.

It has been a tough few years for Rhodes, and after falling out of favour at Huddersfield under former manager Neil Warnock, he joined Blackpool on loan in August.

Rhodes has been in excellent form since his move to Bloomfield Road, and he will be keen to help the Seasiders to promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt this season.

The striker is out of contract at Huddersfield in the summer, and if he does depart the John Smith's Stadium, he will be fondly remembered by Terriers supporters for his contribution over two spells at the club.

Rhodes first joined Huddersfield from Ipswich Town in July 2009 for a fee of £350,000, with then Tractor Boys manager Roy Keane allowing him to leave, and it was a decision the Irishman would live to regret.

Roy Keane on Jordan Rhodes' Ipswich Town departure

Rhodes came through the Ipswich academy, going on to score once in 10 appearances for the club, and he spent time out on loan with Oxford United, Rochdale and Brentford before his move to Huddersfield.

Keane admitted in 2014 that he made a mistake in sanctioning Rhodes' departure, but he insisted that it was a club decision.

"I still get criticised for selling Jordan, and I have to accept that," Keane wrote in his book, The Second Half, quoted by the Lancashire Telegraph.

"But it was also a club decision. We sold him to Huddersfield, down a division, for (an initial) £350,000, and he started scoring loads of goals.

"I think I was the one who suggested a sell-on clause, and thank God we had it because they sold him to Blackburn for £8million.

"The mistake myself and the staff made with Jordan was, we discussed what he couldn’t do rather than what he could do."

Rhodes revealed that Keane's lack of belief in him served as motivation after he left Portman Road, and he certainly proved his former manager wrong with his prolific form at Huddersfield.

Jordan Rhodes deal is one of Huddersfield Town's best ever transfers

Rhodes arrived at Huddersfield with the club languishing in League One, and while it took the Terriers a number of attempts to secure promotion to the Championship, the striker consistently produced outstanding goal returns.

The 34-year-old's best season for the Terriers came as they won promotion in the 2011-12 campaign, during which he scored an incredible 39 goals in 45 games, including netting two hat-tricks, scoring four in a game against Sheffield Wednesday, and even scoring five in a match against Wycombe Wanderers.

Rhodes left Huddersfield after promotion to join Blackburn Rovers for £8 million, and if his performances on the pitch were not frustrating enough for Ipswich, the Tractor Boys would surely have loved to receive a fee of that size, particularly during the ownership of Marcus Evans when spending was limited.

Insult was added to injury for Ipswich supporters when Rhodes joined their East Anglian rivals Norwich City on loan from Sheffield Wednesday in July 2018, and he scored nine goals and provided one assist in 40 appearances to help the Canaries to the Championship title.

Rhodes returned for a second spell at Huddersfield after his release by Wednesday in 2021, and while his game time was largely limited, he did score a crucial goal in the play-off semi-final second leg against Luton Town in 2022 to seal the Terriers' progression to the final.

Ipswich were said to be keen on bringing Rhodes back to the club on loan last season, but they instead signed strikers George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead in January on their way to promotion from League One.

The Tractor Boys are currently targeting a return to the Premier League under the guidance of Kieran McKenna, but supporters will no doubt wonder what could have been if Rhodes had not been sold.