Ian Holloway has admitted that he ‘didn’t realise how good’ Salomon Rondon was, believing Newcastle now have an ‘amazing’ forward line.
With 10 goals and 5 assists in 23 starts this season, he’s been more than just a powerhouse, a hard worker and an impressive target man – he’s been a goalscorer too; something he wasn’t known for in his previous few seasons in the Premier League.
Here’s what the former Blackpool boss had to say about our new look forward line during his appearance on talkSPORT:
“I think it’s amazing the forward line they’ve got now, obviously with Matt [Ritchie] putting some service in,”
“But I think the signing of Rondon…I didn’t realise how good he was!”
I was very happy when we signed Rondon, believing he was the type of player who would fit into Benitez’s well, however his form in front of goal has surprised me.
At West Brom he often looked a handful, pretty mobile for his size and a strong target man, but with 24 goals in his first three seasons with the Baggies, he was never prolific in front of goal – often spurning as many big chances as he’d score.
Not only has he bagged 10 goals so far this season, along with a respectable 5 assists (keep in mind his season only really started in November), it feels like he’s rarely misfired when big chances have presented themselves.
He’s been clinical in front of goal, a constant presence and target to hit up top and the perfect link between Ayoze Perez and Miguel Almiron.
