Official: Newcastle sign Salomon Rondon from West Brom on loan

Newcastle United have announced the signing of Salomon Rondon from West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan.

CONFIRMED: @salorondon23 joins Newcastle United on loan!@dwightgayle moves to @WBA on loan as part of the deal.

Full details: https://t.co/7PQdLR3QzY #NUFC #RonDONE pic.twitter.com/sc6SpghctC

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 6, 2018

Excerpts from NUFC official statement:

As part of the deal to secure Rafa Benítez's number one transfer target, Dwight Gayle moves in the opposite direction and will remain on loan with the Baggies for their 2018/19 Championship campaign.

Gayle scored 23 times during the Magpies' 2016/17 Championship-winning season but found goals much harder to come by in the following Premier League campaign, netting on six occasions.

Rondón, a Venezuelan international, becomes the club's sixth summer signing. He joins fellow summer arrivals Martin Dúbravka, Kenedy, Ki Sung-yueng, Fabian Schär and Yoshinori Mutō as the club further strengthens Rafa Benítez’s squad, which finished tenth last season.

Rondón said: "It's an honour to be here and I'm excited to get started with my team mates. "The clubs were talking for a long time and now I'm focused on the season to help my team mates to get the points to do well this season.

"It's one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League and I knew about the interest of the gaffer, so I'm happy to be here."

Newcastle United manager, Rafa Benítez, added: "I am delighted to sign Salomón.

"When we were looking for options up front, we knew how important experience would be. Salomón has been in the Premier League for a while and he knows how demanding it is.

"He, together with Yoshinori Mutō, will give us different options and will improve the competition between the strikers, which is always positive for the team."

Twenty-eight-year-old Rondón, who has 66 caps and 19 goals for his country, began his career at Aragua in his homeland before moving to Spain in 2008, where he enjoyed fruitful spells with Las Palmas and Málaga.

In the summer of 2012, Rondón joined Rubin Kazan, where his form alerted fellow Russian Premier League side Zenit St. Petersburg.

After just over a year at the Krestovsky Stadium, he joined the Baggies ahead of the 2015/16 campaign.