Newcastle have just missed THE perfect opportunity to re-sign this former fan favourite

Monday brought the news that former Newcastle United number 9 Salomon Rondon was on the move.

The Venezuelan joined CSKA Moscow on loan for the rest of the season from Chinese side Dalian Pro, moving back to Russia where he has played previously – for Rubin Kazan and Zenit (2012-2015). 

A big fit at Newcastle, most fans would love to have saw Rondon back in the black and white shirt again. He claimed the Player of the Season award back in 2019 and was involved in 19 goals altogether (12 goals and 7 assists). 

Why didn’t Newcastle take a gamble on him as back up to Wilson? According to Metaratings.ru, Rondon accepted a wage of £1.8m (plus bonuses) which equates to around £30,000 per week.

Considering Gayle is on double that and we had space in our 25-man squad last month (Atsu was recalled due to us needing to make the numbers up), why did we not make the move?

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Rondon made it clear he would love to come back to Newcastle. “If in January, I had a chance to sign again for Newcastle I would do it for sure because they gave me a lot and I felt so much when I was at St James.”

Only bringing in Joe Willock in the window and now with Wilson’s injury, just backs up the facts that Ashley is gambling his way to survival again. A baffling thought when we know a legal case on the Saudi-backed consortium carries on, in the background, which would decrease the value of the club massively if we ended up getting relegated.

Personally I feel like Rondon is in a different league to Gayle, Joelinton or Carroll, as back up for Wilson.

It’s a different question how he would fare under Bruce, as it would be a shock coming from a tactical genius in Rafa, but this should’ve been a no-brainer in the situation we found ourselves in.

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