OPINION
West Ham should send their reported pursuit of West Bromwich Albion attacker Salomon Rondon into overdrive despite Danny Mills doubting his quality.
According to the Northern Echo, the Hammers were currently in pursuit of the 29-year-old forward and were leading the race for him.
The Sky Sports pundit shared he was not convinced that Rondon had the out and out quality to deliver the goods in the Premier League and suggested he could only be effective when a team play to his strengths.
Mills then implied that the Hammers tended not to play to Rondon’s strengths as they opt to play the ball on the floor and play out from the back.
“Has he got the out and out quality to do it in the Premier League? I’m still unconvinced,” Mills told Football Insider.
“He’s big, strong, powerful – you’ve got to play to his strengths and West Ham seem to be going away from that. It’s a more technical game, try to play it on the floor, play it out from the back. Salomon Rondon can be effective when you play to his strengths.
“There are less and less teams in the Premier League who are starting to do that now.”
However, Mills’ doubts shouldn’t put the Hammers off, as he could soon be convinced by Rondon’s talents if he arrives at the London Stadium.
The 29-year-old is big, strong and powerful like Mills said; but has done enough to suggest he can deliver the goods in the Premier League.
Rondon scored 11 goals in 32 league outings for the Magpies in his 2018/19 campaign, his best ever season in the Premier League for goals, and chipped in seven assists as well.
The Venezuelan ended up being involved with a whopping 42% of the Magpies’ league goals, as per Transfermarkt, and it shows how he helped to dictate play and was not reliant on his teammates playing to his style.
Also, Mills seems to imply that Rondon is a big player who prefers the ball to come to him in the air, in order to head it home.
But that simply isn’t the case based on his stats latest season.
Out of the forward’s 11 league goals, five came with his right foot, four with his left foot and two with his head and that doesn’t sound like a player who doesn’t thrive with the ball on the floor (Source: Premier League).
Also, Rondon is the type of player who’d thrive under Manuel Pellegrini due to his work ethic.
The attacker always puts the team first and this is shown by the fact he blocked 29 shots and made 38 clearances when tracking back to the help Magpies’ defence in his latest campaign.
Considering the Hammers conceded 55 goals in 35 leagues games last season, they could do with a forward who will help carry the load at the back when his team is up against it.
So with that in mind, the Hammers shouldn’t be hesitating over Rondon despite Mills being unconvinced, instead, they should be throwing everything they have at getting him.
