Aston Villa should avoid recommended move for Salomon Rondon [Opinion]

A new striker could to be on Dean Smith’s Aston Villa transfer wish list in January as Ollie Watkins doesn’t have much of a supporting cast – Keinan Davis has found himself on the periphery this season while Wesley Moraes is still recovering from a long-term injury.

Aston Villa have been recently linked with the likes of Bournemouth’s Josh King, but Gregg Evans of The Athletic believes that Salomon Rondon “would also be worth consideration”.

Whether he’s affordable and attainable are another matter, though. The 31-year-old joined Dalian Professional from West Bromwich Albion for £16.4m in 2019 and has gone on to make 28 appearances in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and supplying seven assists.

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The Venezuela international has been prolific in the Chinese Super League, so it’s hard to see him being sold and especially for less than the price at which he was bought.

Rondon has nine goals in 14 league games this season, which is more than Watkins (six goals in 12 league games), but Villa may not want to pay so much for a 31-year-old striker who has been away from England for 18 months.

He scored a respectable 11 goals and provided seven assists in his most recent Premier League season on loan at Newcastle in 2018/19 (Transfermarkt), but he would be an expensive short-term option with little resale value for Aston Villa if they were to sign him next month.

Read more: Evans has also cited a current Premier League winger as a possible January addition for Aston Villa.