DEAN HOYLE today lifted the lid on the £8m Jordan Rhodes transfer and explained why Huddersfield Town had to let him go.

Club chairman and owner Hoyle concedes the timing is “terrible” so close to tonight’s closing of the summer transfer window but emphasised the cash is guaranteed – with Town also protected by a sell-on clause.

A lifelong fan, Hoyle also revealed he was willing to walk away from the record-breaking deal with the Ewood Park club if the 22-year-old Scotland international was prepared to stay at the John Smith’s Stadium – but that didn’t become an option.

“This all started last January when a club which I’m not going to name came in for Jordan and would have been prepared to pay up to £5m for him,” said Hoyle.

“Once again, they offered him unbelievably high wages to go there and Jordan wanted to go, but I explained to Jordan it was impossible because we wanted to get promotion, and I didn’t allow him the move.

“To Jordan’s credit, he didn’t kick up a fuss and we came to an agreement which was that if he stayed and helped the club get promoted to the Championship, and if a club came in with a price which was acceptable to Huddersfield Town – and there was no price set – I would not stand in his way if he wanted to move on this summer.

“To his credit, Jordan scored the goals to get us up, he got his head straight back into it and, at the same time, I felt I had to honour my side of the agreement this summer if it came to it.

“The stumbling block was the price. No set price was talked about, but I was adamant that if Jordan was to leave this club, it was going to be for the right amount of money.”

Hoyle’s stance on that never wavered, which is why the £5m West Ham United were reportedly offering last January was not going to be allowed to disrupt Town’s promotion ambitions.

“You can argue all day long about whether any move should have been to a Premiership club or a Championship club – that was for Jordan Rhodes to decide and I didn’t want to dictate which club he went to,” explained the chairman, whose team visit Rhodes’ old club Ipswich tomorrow.

“There are different dimensions to the whole situation right now and I firmly believe this is not a Marcus Stewart situation.

“I also believe Jordan could have gone to a Premiership club, but that was his choice.

“Jordan made it clear to me a few weeks ago that Blackburn could offer him a package which would make him and his family secure, and I said to him that he would only be allowed to leave if the price was right.

“On Wednesday night, Blackburn matched our valuation and I didn’t want to stand in his way.

“Jordan pointed out to me that if I didn’t allow him to leave, he could break a leg in the next game and he would be denied a fantastic financial opportunity, and I wanted to keep my side of the bargain.

“What I wanted to ensure, however, was that I got the right deal for Huddersfield Town Football Club – and this is £8m guaranteed.

“It’s a record deal for the club and it also includes protection for us should Jordan go on and become an even bigger asset, so there is a sell-on.”

Hoyle would not reveal details of the payment structure from Blackburn, other than Town were very happy with it and not a penny less would have been accepted.

“Even when I accepted the deal from Blackburn Rovers, I spoke to Jordan personally and told him I was prepared to walk away from the £8m to keep him here,” added the boardroom chief.

“He said that was very flattering, but the deal on the table from Blackburn was too good to turn down and he wanted to move on.

“In those terms, we can’t match Blackburn because they’ve got parachute payments from the Premier League and are financially on a different level to us, but that’s football and, ultimately, I had to make sure it was the right deal for Huddersfield Town – and I think £8m is the right deal.”

Sources suggest Rhodes was on less than £10,000 a week at Town, whereas he’s likely to command four times that at Rovers, who were relegated from the top flight only months ago and are backed by Indian chicken magnates Venky’s.

Hoyle has always said Town must be run in a sustainable way and, while he wouldn’t ideally have liked to have sold Rhodes, the deal offers a solid route forward. While the transfer window closes tonight, the loan transfer window opens next week.

“The timing of this is terrible because we didn’t expect Blackburn to come in and pay what we wanted, but they have done and we are working very hard to bridge the gap in terms of signings,” he added.

“It’s not ideal, but I didn’t want to stand in Jordan’s way and I wanted to honour my side of the agreement because Jordan honoured his.

“He didn’t kick up a fuss when he could have gone (in January), he scored the goals which got us up and that is the most important point.

“Jordan wanted to go this time, I didn’t want him to go, but ultimately if he was going to go I had to make sure it was for the best price possible.

“I turned down a fee of £5m for him and, this time, I wouldn’t have taken £6m or £7m. It had to be what we wanted and it was Jordan’s wish that we allowed him to go when that offer was made.”