Wenger - Rhodes has something special

Arsene Wenger says that Blackburn Rovers striker Jordan Rhodes possesses a "special" knack of being able to find the back of the net.

Rhodes has already scored 20 goals in all competitions this season after previously impressing for Huddersfield Town in the 2011/12 season, where he netted 36 times in the league.

That form prompted Blackburn to move for the forward last summer, and Wenger believes the Scottish international’s ability to consistently score goals shows Rhodes is capable of playing in the Premier League.

“He has scored 20 goals in 25 games, so he must have something special and a big intelligence in the box - [he possesses] a big level of anticipation and is a skilful finisher.

“You don't see him too much outside the box in participation but when you look at his record it is quite impressive. Let's not forget that English football forgot people like Lambert for example.

“You wonder today what career this boy would have made if he had gone to a big club at 18 or 19. Maybe the fact that we had the money to only buy foreign we forget a few people who could make it.

“We know that he was a good goalscorer at Huddersfield. When a guy scores goals lower down you always have a question mark about whether he’d be capable of playing for Arsenal Football Club. But you have to give him time to adapt to the level and this season he has shown in the Championship that he can go higher.”