Salomón Rondón sought expert counsel from a South American farmer before committing himself to leaving West Bromwich Albion for a season on loan at Newcastle United. “I spoke to Faustino Asprilla, we have things in common,” says Rafael Benítez’s new centre-forward, his face breaking into the broadest of smiles. “He told me this was a great city for my family.”
Rondón laughs and shakes his head when asked if those similarities with the former Newcastle and Colombia striker turned sugar-cane rancher extend to off-field activities. When Asprilla, famed for a lively social life on Tyneside, eventually vacated his rented Northumberland village home, bullet holes were found in one of the walls.
They were apparently a legacy of one of the striker’s frequent parties but the Venezuelan forward seems far too rooted in domesticity to follow suit. “My wife, my two kids, my mother-in-law, the grandma of my wife, I have my family around me,” says Rondón, whose parents and brothers remain in Caracas. “We really appreciate the welcome we’ve received here. We’re very crazy with the Newcastle people. It already feels like home.
“I know all about the amazing South American players who’ve been here, people like Nolberto Solano and Jonás Gutiérrez, so being a Newcastle player feels very big.”
Then there is Asprilla and the treble he scored in a 3-2 Champions League win against Barcelona at St James’ Park in 1997. “I saw the hat-trick against Barcelona on television,” says the 28-year-old. “In Venezuela that was big.”
Mention of home wipes the smiles from Rondón’s face. Already politically unstable, the country’s turbulence is exacerbated by a long-running economic crisis now so acute that supermarket shelves in Caracas remain empty, medical supplies have run out and water shortages are prefacing the cancellations of countless hospital operations as surgeons cannot wash equipment.
With inflation galloping out of control, violent crime is rife and the murder rate terrifying. In theory, a country rich in natural resources – most notably oil, gold and diamonds – should be wealthy but the late president Hugo Chávez’s revolutionary socialist plan went badly wrong. His successor, Nicolás Maduro, is in deep trouble.
“It’s a difficult moment for the Venezuelan people,” says Rondón. “The only thing which makes them forget their problems is football. Every weekend they try to watch the Premier League and La Liga. It’s a distraction.”
As the country’s most famous footballer and sole Premier League representative, his profile in Caracas is uncomfortably high and he needs to tread carefully. “I didn’t go back this summer,” he concedes. “It’s difficult. Everyone recognises me; it’s best to get my mum and dad to visit me instead.”
It does not stop him worrying about the nation he has represented at three Copa Américas and will always love. “You read about inflation in Venezuela all the time in newspapers,” Rondón says. “It is high, very, very high. I’m not an economist but it’s a bad situation.
“My responsibility is to make Venezuelan people proud. When we play for the national team we try to make them forget the bad things, just for those 90 minutes. I don’t have a tattoo but if I did it would be the flag of my country. I feel very, very proud to be a Venezuelan. This is my ID.”
Wearing Newcastle’s iconic No 9 shirt already seems to be exerting a similar effect. Perhaps tellingly the same numeral is scribbled on his flip-flops. “I did that,” grins the former Las Palmas, Málaga, Rubin Kazan and Zenit St Petersburg striker. Rondón then looks down, scowling, at the number on his temporary training top. “I want to remember I’m No 9 – not 27, although I suppose two and seven add up to nine.”
It does not stop him worrying about the nation he has represented at three Copa Américas and will always love. “You read about inflation in Venezuela all the time in newspapers,” Rondón says. “It is high, very, very high. I’m not an economist but it’s a bad situation.
“My responsibility is to make Venezuelan people proud. When we play for the national team we try to make them forget the bad things, just for those 90 minutes. I don’t have a tattoo but if I did it would be the flag of my country. I feel very, very proud to be a Venezuelan. This is my ID.”
Wearing Newcastle’s iconic No 9 shirt already seems to be exerting a similar effect. Perhaps tellingly the same numeral is scribbled on his flip-flops. “I did that,” grins the former Las Palmas, Málaga, Rubin Kazan and Zenit St Petersburg striker. Rondón then looks down, scowling, at the number on his temporary training top. “I want to remember I’m No 9 – not 27, although I suppose two and seven add up to nine.”
After stepping off the bench, and very nearly scoring, during Newcastle’s 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham last Saturday, Rondón is expected to start at Cardiff on Saturday. Unlike certain predecessors, he is determined not to be cowed by the history of his new shirt.
“I know all about the No 9s here but I like the pressure,” says Rondón. “When I signed the contract there was a big picture of all Newcastle’s leading scorers – Alan Shearer at the top with 206 goals. So, yes, the pressure’s big … but I want to make the fans proud by wearing this shirt like Alan Shearer did.
“Coming on against Tottenham, the welcome from supporters was amazing. It was incredible for my family. I feel lucky.”
He is also admirably fluent in English. “But my son corrects me all the time,” adds Rondón modestly. “He tells me: ‘No you don’t say it like that.’ It’s amazing for my children; they speak Spanish and English and have Italian passports. This is a privileged life, we travel around the world but I’m enjoying England.”
It had, though, become harder to relish existence at the Hawthorns. “Everyone at West Brom did bad things last season and if you do bad things from the beginning you’ll finish in a bad way,” says a player who cost the Midlands club a record £12m in 2015. “It was difficult. In the first month, players wanted to leave. Then we changed manager three times. We did really well under Darren Moore in the last few games but still went down. It was very tough.”
Nonetheless Jamaal Lascelles, Newcastle’s captain and key defender, cites Rondón as his most difficult opponent last term. “The centre-halves here are big and hard and kick the strikers more than we can kick them in training,” says Rondón, who scored 20 times in 37 appearances for Zenit before claiming a more modest 24 in 104 games with West Brom.
Although a creator as much as a finisher, Rondón hopes the goals will flow again under Benítez. “It’s a pleasure to work with Rafa, to see his tactics, his ideas,” he adds. “I’ve come here to do well, score goals and stay permanently. I know this is the biggest move of my career.”
The Guardian Sport
