Why West Ham Should Not Sign Salomon Rondon This Summer
West Ham United continue to be linked with every other striker out there in the market. It is a well-known fact that that Hammers boss Slaven Bilic is keen on adding fresh faces to his attacking line ahead of next season and the rumour mill continues to churn out one striker after another who “could be” heading to the London Stadium.
The latest name making the round is that of West Bromwich Albion striker Salomon Rondon’s. According to a report from Express & Star, the Venezuelan international is the new subject of interest for the West London outfit. The report also claims that the Baggies have no intention of selling the 27-year old and only a huge offer from the Hammers will force them to consider a sale.
The Hammers had an extremely poor summer recruitment last summer, when they went and brought in players like Simone Zaza, Jonathan Calleri, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sofiane Feghouli and Ashley Fletcher. Only Fletcher and Feghouli remain at the club among those new arrivals with the Algerian too soon expected to leave for Galatasaray, while the former Manchester United youngster could be loaned out.
Despite the plethora of attack-minded players at Bilic’s disposal – in the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio, Robert Snodgrass and Andre Ayew, the dearth of options to lead the line is appalling. He just has Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho as the only out and out strikers in the squad – both being heavily inconsistent and injury prone.
By investing in Rondon, the Irons will be getting a player who is very much similar to both Carroll and Sakho. Not the most agile of the forwards, the 27-year old does bring an imposing presence at the top with his body, can hold the ball up well and stays fit for most parts of the season. But he doesn’t get enough goals, and goals are what West Ham need at the moment.
Last season, Rondon managed just 8 goals in the Premier League, despite featuring in every league game and had just 2 assists to his name. Moreover, the Venezuelan international scored just one goal since the turn of the new year and that is not what the Hammers need at this point in time.
Rondon is a decent striker, no question, but West Ham need someone who can get them 15-20 goals a season and he is not the man for them. He hardly marks an improvement on the current options that Bilic currently has on his hands. Considering the fact that West Brom rejected a whopping £32million offer for his services from Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian earlier this year, the Hammers will have to shell out more money in order to sign Rondon. He is absolutely not worth that much amount of money and West Ham should rather forget signing Rondon and look at some better players than him.