According to reports, after the failed pursuit of Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Wilfried Bony, Marko Arnautovic and many more strikers this summer, West Ham United have now focused on West Bromwich Albion’s Salomon Rondon. The Venezuelan international was the sole centre-forward Tony Pulis had at his disposal last season and performed quite well, but the arrival of Jay Rodriguez at Hawthorns could change the equation next season.
The Hammers find themselves in a similar crisis that they had last year. They have the money to go after some of the top players in European football but lack the lure. Though it hasn’t stopped them from chasing few of them, last summer’s outcome has kept them on their toes this time and they would first want to get a backup before going after the elites.
West Ham had a horrible season last term that all started with getting ousted from the Europa League tournament in the qualifying game itself. It was followed by a long injury crisis and eventually the departure of their best player, Dimitri Payet, in January. Although Slaven Bilic did pull off some good buys in Jose Fonte and Robert Snodgrass, which brought the much-needed balance to the side, they could only finish in the 11th position.
Attack has been a huge talking point from last season for the Hammers as apart from Andy Carroll, Bilic hardly had any quality display from his available options. And among the long list of names that West Ham have been linked this summer, Rondon looks quite gettable, although he isn’t coming for cheap.
The Baggies had rejected a whopping £32 million bid from Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian last January and they would surely demand more if they are to sell their main striker to a direct rival. Pulis has always focused more on defending and last season he played with once natural centre-forward in the side, which makes it all the more improbable that he would sell Rondon now.
Rondon has shown his quality at Hawthorns since arriving in 2015. Playing for a team, who only specialises in defending in numbers, the Venezuelan has still managed to score 18 goals and assist six times in 80 appearances for them.
An academy product of Venezuelan side Aragua FC, Rondon has played for numerous sides like La Liga clubs UD Las Palmas and Málaga CF and Russian sides Rubin Kazan and Zenit St. Petersburg before Albion bought him. His tenacity to chase defenders and nose for goal makes him a tremendous addition to any side.
