Salomón Rondón

He made his debut in the Premier League five days later, replacing Craig Gardner in the 62nd minute of an eventual 0–0 away draw against Watford.

On 23 August, he made his first start, at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur-linked Saido Berahino, in a 2–3 home defeat to Chelsea, assisting James Morrison in his first goal and later being brought down by John Terry who received a straight red card.

José Salomón Rondón Giménez (born 16 September 1989) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga MX club Pachuca and the Venezuela national team.

He is also regarded as one of the greatest football players in Venezuelan history.

On 21 November he netted once and provided an assist in a 4–0 victory over Burnley, and on 14 December, against Swansea City, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick after netting three headers in a 3–1 win, which was only the second time this feat was achieved in the history of the competition, the first being Everton's Duncan Ferguson in 1997.

He made his debut in the Venezuelan Primera División at the age of 17, appearing for Aragua FC against Carabobo FC on 8 October 2006; on 8 April of the following year he scored his first goals for the club, in a 2–2 draw against Caracas FC.

A Venezuela international since 2008, Rondón has earned over 100 caps and is the country's all-time top goalscorer with 41 goals.

In the summer of 2008, Rondón was signed by UD Las Palmas in Spain, and made his official debut on 5 October in a 1–2 away loss against Deportivo Alavés in the Segunda División.

Almost a year after his arrival, on 2 September 2009, he netted his first goal, in a Copa del Rey match against Cádiz CF – becoming the youngest foreign player to ever score for the club, at the age of 19 years, 11 months and 17 days – and finished the season with ten goals in 36 games, as the Canary Islands side narrowly avoided relegation.

On 19 July 2010, Málaga CF signed Rondón for a record €3.5 million transfer fee.

He scored his first goal for the Andalusians exactly two months later, in a 1–2 home defeat against Sevilla FC in La Liga.

Four days later, he opened the score in a 2–0 win at Getafe CF, adding a third the following week in a 2–3 home loss to Villarreal CF.

In continental competition, he opened up the scoring in the 100th minute of the round-of-16 clash against Levante, latching on to a cross from Bibras Natcho as the hosts won it 2–0 in that leg and on aggregate.

He represented his country in four Copa América tournaments, helping them to fourth place in 2011.

Born in Caracas, Rondón's sporting idols growing up were Ronaldo and Michael Jordan.

On 1 May 2011, Rondón contributed with one goal as Málaga came from behind at home to defeat Hércules CF 3–1.

Rondón started 2011–12 on the substitutes bench.

He eventually beat competition from ageing Ruud van Nistelrooy, again finishing as Málaga's best scorer – this included goals in narrow home wins against RCD Espanyol (2–1) and Levante UD (1–0), and a brace against Rayo Vallecano (4–2 success, also at La Rosaleda Stadium).

In August 2012, Rondón signed for Russian Premier League team FC Rubin Kazan, for a reported fee of €10 million which made him the most expensive Venezuelan player in history.

He made his league debut on the 12th in a 2–0 home win over FC Dynamo Moscow, and he scored his first goal against FC Terek Grozny on 1 September, albeit in a 1–2 home defeat.

Rondón made his first appearance in the UEFA Europa League against Inter Milan, and he scored once in a 2–2 group stage away draw, also playing the entire match.

In the second match between the two sides he netted a brace in the final three minutes, helping his team to a 3–0 win.

That was his 13th goal of the campaign, with which he surpassed the record of goals from a Venezuelan footballer in the Spanish top flight previously held by Juan Arango; the team finally escaped relegation, with the player finishing as their top scorer.

On 10 March 2013, following the winter break in the Russian Premier League, Rondón scored the only goal of the match as Rubin claimed a home victory over reigning champions FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Rondón opened the scoring for Rubin on 19 April 2013, as they could only manage a 1–1 draw at relegation-threatened FC Amkar Perm.

In the club's next league match, against PFC CSKA Moscow, he netted the first goal in a 2–0 victory over the league leaders and eventual champions.

On 1 September 2013, Rondón scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win against recently promoted FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast.

On 31 January 2014, Rondón underwent a medical and joined fellow league club Zenit Saint Petersburg, signing a five-year contract for a fee in the region of £15.8 million.

He played his first game for his new team on 25 February, scoring in an eventual 2–1 away win against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League's round of 16-second-leg (4–5 aggregate defeat).

Again as a second-half substitute, Rondón scored a rare second-half hat-trick on 6 April 2014 in a 6–2 home routing of former team Rubin.

On 20 September he added another three, in a 5–0 win at FC Rostov.

After starting out at Aragua, Rondón went on to spend most of his career in Europe, appearing in La Liga with Málaga, the Russian Premier League with Rubin Kazan, Zenit Saint Petersburg (winning the 2015 national championship with the latter club) and CSKA Moscow, and the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United and Everton.

Rondón scored a brace at home against PSV Eindhoven on 26 February 2015, being essential in a 3–0 home victory for the Europa League round of 32 and a 4–0 aggregate triumph.

On 10 August 2015, Rondón joined English club West Bromwich Albion on a four-year-deal for a club-record fee of £12 million.

Rondón scored his first goal for the Baggies on 29 August 2015, netting the game's only in stoppage time of the first half of the away fixture against nine-man Stoke City.

On 19 December, he was sent off at the end of a 1–2 home loss to AFC Bournemouth for thrusting his head at Dan Gosling, with teammate James McClean also dismissed in the first half; he finished his first season in English football with ten goals.

Rondón began the 2016–17 campaign strongly, scoring the winner in the opening match win over Crystal Palace, then continued his impressive form in September with goals in consecutive matches against West Ham United and Stoke.

Rondón's goal in a 1–1 draw with Tottenham, on 25 November 2017, made him the first Venezuelan to score at either the rebuilt Wembley Stadium or the original facilities, as well as the first Albion player to score at the new ground.

The following 20 January, early into the second half of the away fixture against Everton, he accidentally broke James McCarthy's leg, and was reduced to tears upon realising the extent of McCarthy's injury; recalling the incident in an interview some months later also caused him to become upset.

On 6 August 2018, Rondón joined Newcastle United on a one-year loan swap, with Dwight Gayle heading in the opposite direction.