Newcastle United’s hierarchy are yet to broker a deal to sign West Bromwich Albion forward Salomon Rondon due to his age, according to the Chronicle.
The regional newspaper claim that while Rafa Benitez is keen on the 28-year-old attacker, the board are reluctant to splash big-money on players of his age.
The Chronicle report that a move for Rondon is in the pipeline but that WBA are refusing to deal with the Magpies until that come up with the £16.5million needed to trigger the player’s release clause is his contract.
It is believed that Benitez put Rondon near the top of his shortlist when complying a list of forwards for the club to pursue due to him having a release clause in his deal.
OPINION
No wonder Benitez is frustrated when the Magpies are reluctant to move for a 28-year-old forward due to his age. It seems like there is someone on the Magpies’ board no doubt sweating over the fact Rondon turns 29 in September and that’s ridiculous. It would be understandable if Rondon was the wrong side of 30 and the club were perhaps having doubts or if his career had been ravaged by injury problems. However neither of these are the case and if anything the forward should currently be in his peak, which means he could be the right candidate to fire the goals into the net for the Magpies. According to the Chronicle the Magpies did try to loan Rondon and it’s no surprise to read that WBA thought that due to this the Premier League club weren’t serious about their interest. The 28-year-old’s contract expires next summer and the Baggies are just trying to achieve a reasonable price to part with their forward so they can rebuild their squad after their recent relegation.
