According to the Chronicle’s Mark Douglas, Rafa Benitez ‘wanted to sign’ West Brom striker Salomon Rondon this summer – however it quickly became evident that it was going to cost much more than his £16m release clause to sign him.
It was confirmed soon after their relegation that the powerful Venezuelan had a clause in his contract, allowing him to leave for £16m this summer.
Benitez’s interest was reported and it seemed at one stage that we were ready to activate that clause, however it seems as though agent/signing on fees and hefty wage demands may have made it far more expensive than meets the eye.
Here’s what the Chronicle had to say on our interest, confirming that he was one of Rafa’s main targets but seemingly someone we deemed too costly in the end:
Benitez wanted to sign Salomon Rondón from West Bromwich Albion for £16m but the deal is believed to have collapsed when the spiralling costs were taken into consideration.
He’s a handful, a hard worker and a player that would probably fit into Benitez’s system far better than most would expect, however it may be a good job that we look elsewhere if he was going to cost silly money.
His goal record isn’t prolific – averaging just under 10 goals a season in England – and he’s 28, so he’s a player whose value would be far more likely to decrease than increase as he edges closer to 30.
Which affordable striker would you like to see us sign this summer?
Olly, last season Rafa was looking at a number of Spanish lads. One was Perez from Arsenal, went back to Spain, I think. There was another, younger lad already at a Spanish club, a bit more promising, but not quite the finished article. I’ld love for some of those to be revisited.
The truth is, though, Ashley really won’t let Rafa have any money, even from the Merino sale (Baaa), in an attempt to force the issue on his new contract. Ashley has nothing to lose, if Rafa goes, the club will head down the toilet. Ashley will never be able to attract another top manager, or be prepared to pay/fund one. As a direct consequence, the club will lose its attraction to buyers. TV money alone won’t compensate, and his insistence to retain the advertising rights at the ground has killed off any interest from Staveley’s group and all others who have looked at the club (and yes, there have been many consortiums make enquiries, but they do it through third party legal agencies so noone finds out their business before hand). Ashley already doesn’t know how to manage a football club or football people. He’ll be more pissed off and take it out on NUFC even more than now. Expect prices to go up higher, on everything, rubbish managers, and no spending. Most players will do a Colback/Saivet or put in for transfers.
I love what Rafa has done for NUFC. He deserves better. I hope he sticks to his guns and leaves (probably for a top European club).
Peter(Quote)