OPINION
Newcastle United have been on the hunt for a new striker all summer, and they finally look on the verge of getting their man with Salomon Rondon looking set to join from West Bromwich Albion.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the Magpies are hoping to seal a season-long loan with option to buy for the Venezuela international on Monday, with Dwight Gayle heading the other way.
The signing of Rondon is set to be a brilliant move for the Magpies, who will be getting a powerful striker with brilliant hold-up play who can lead the line on his own in the Premier League.
However, there looks to be another potential option on the cards for Newcastle, and Rafa Benitez would pull off an absolute masterstroke if he were to make it a reality before deadline day.
As reported by French newspaper L’Equipe, Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud could be available for just £13.3million in the coming days, with the World Cup winner having held talks with Marseille.
The Daily Mail continue the story by claiming that Giroud will look to remain at Chelsea and fight for his place this summer, but with the Blues chasing a £53million deal for Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuian, his future at the club is far from certain.
Newcastle would be able to offer Giroud guaranteed first-team football played in front of 50,000 adoring fans every week, with one of the world’s best managers in charge.
The Frenchman is a proven Premier League performer, with the 31-year-old having scored 78 goals in 193 appearances in the competition.
While a deal for Rondon may seem prohibitive to such a move taking place, the nature of that agreement as a loan swap means that the pending funds from the sale of Aleksandar Mitrovic could go towards a move for Giroud.
This would be a serious statement of intent from Newcastle, who would go into the season with three new quality strikers after the signing of Japan international Yoshinori Muto.
Benitez must now move to make this transfer happen, with Newcastle set to turn into top-half contenders should it do so.
