Sheffield Wednesday: Danny Rohl, Dejphon Chansiri urged to learn from "huge mistake in January" | OneFootball

We spoke to our resident Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit about one transfer mistake his club should not repeat this window.

The January transfer window could be make or break for Sheffield Wednesday's Championship play-off hopes.

The Owls have been in decent form this term and sit just three points outside the play-offs, as they eye a top-six finish come May.

This January they have yet to make an addition, with the only bit of business being Shea Charles' recall from parent club Southampton.

If Danny Rohl's side are to challenge for those top-six spots, then they need to get this winter window right and a few additions could help them along the way.

However, they won't want to overreact and get it all wrong as they did back in 2017 with their £10 million signing of Jordan Rhodes.

Jordan Rhodes was a disaster signing for Sheffield Wednesday

Posed the question as to what mistake they wouldn't like to see repeated this window, Sheffield Wednesday's fan pundit, Patrick McKenna laid out the Owls' 2017 deal for Rhodes.

"If we are talking about the January transfer window, our most famous mistake was the signing of Jordan Rhodes for £10 million," said McKenna.

"He was a player we didn't need; we were well enough covered in the centre-forward position at that stage. Especially when we got Sam Winnall from Barnsley, we thought, 'Yes, that completes that area of the pitch, and we will look elsewhere.'

"But we rushed and paid way over the odds for Rhodes, who, at that stage, wasn't the player he had been at Huddersfield. His career since Huddersfield, at Middlesbrough and Blackburn, had been declining, so he wasn't worth the money.

"We jumped in and got him, and, as is well known, he completely flopped at the club.

"Although we won't be in the same situation, the lesson is that we don't need to spend too much money on a player we don't need. Don't sign on past glories and don't pay too much if they are not needed.

"I think it will be hard to get a direct comparison as they were different eras, but it was a huge mistake in January, as we signed him for all the wrong reasons."

Jordan Rhodes - A £10 million disaster

Prior to his move to Wednesday, Rhodes had just come off the back of his first taste of Premier League football, where he was afforded just six appearances for Middlesbrough.

It was hoped that a return to the Championship would help him rediscover his scoring touch, but it never arrived, with the attacker managing just 20 goals in 112 appearances for the Owls. His best season came in 2020-21, where he found the back of the net a meagre seven times.

Eventually, he departed on a free transfer, rejoining his former club Huddersfield, which marked a disappointing end to his time at Hillsborough and resulted in the club losing the £10 million they had initially paid for him.

While we won't be seeing any eight-figure transfer fees from Wednesday this window, they must take notice of this deal and ensure they don't panic buy when the deadline nears.

Picking up players who can not only contribute to their play-off push but also retain long-term value should be the club's primary focus for the final few weeks of January.