Salomón Rondón: Bio, Career, Summary, Stats, Trophies and News

Salomon Rondon Family and Early Life

Salomon Rondon was born in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. Despite the country’s turbulent conditions at the time of his birth, his parents managed to provide him with a safe environment to grow up. His father, the late Jose Rafael Rondon, was a chemistry professor in a military school. Along with his wife Matiana, they took good care of Salomon and nurtured his interest in the game.
Rondon was from a country that didn’t prioritise football as number one, unlike the others around them. In Venezuela, baseball and basketball often took the top honours. Naturally, Rondon was inclined towards basketball and idolised the legendary Michael Jordan. This is the reason behind Rondon wearing the 23 jersey all the time. However, another influential icon in football made Rondon pick the beautiful game. Ronaldo Nazario’s goalscoring exploits in the 1990s prompted him to take up the sport professionally.

Playing Style and Strengths

Salomon Rondon is an archetypical old-school no-nonsense striker. You punt the ball long to him, and you can expect him to win it and keep the ball to bring the others into play. He’s strong, energetic, and possesses incredible tactical intelligence that makes him any manager’s favourite. Rondon is not the quickest player in the world, but once he breaks into his stride, it's nearly impossible to snatch the ball away from him.

He enjoys duels with big centre-backs and beating them to wheel away. Not known for his passing or dribbling, he can just about do the job at an efficient level. It is in the penalty box that he brings his most important skill to the table. Rondon has an array of finishes in his toolkit. He has the knack of picking the right finish for the right situation, as he often scores sublime goals from difficult chances. He has a right-footed bias, but there were quite a lot of weak-foot goals as well.

Salomon Rondon Net Worth

As per multiple sources online, Salomon Rondon net worth is estimated to be around £15-20 million fortune thanks to his salary and Adidas sponsorships, amassed through his time at West Bromwich and Everton, where he earned the majority of his net worth.

Salomon Rondon Salary

Salomon Rondon’s current salary details aren’t available on public record. But from trusted sources like AIScore.com, he earned the highest annual salary of £3.1 million a season at West Bromwich Albion in 2017.

Salomon Rondon Wife

Salomon Rondon is happily married to Instagram influencer Valeria Rosales. The couple is blessed with three children, Rodrigo, Raffaela, and Romeo. Rondon lives with his extended family, including his wife and her family, in Mexico. The footballing star keeps his married life private as he is afraid of the repercussions that he might face in Venezuela. The country is notoriously known for its high crime rate and kidnappings linked with extortion. The star smuggles his own family in and out of the country instead of visiting them freely.

Salomon Rondon Career

Rondon joined San Jose de Calasanz as a seven-year-old. He moved to Aragua’s academy before making a breakthrough. His emergence as an energetic striker prompted the coach to give him a debut at just 17. However, Rondon only scored his first goals after six months of first-team football. Spanish clubs who scout the South American region well took a gamble as UD Las Palmas signed Rondon in 2008.
When Rondon scored his first goal for the club, he became the youngest foreigner to score for them at just 19. With 10 league goals in 36 games, he helped them avoid relegation. After a couple of years in the Canary Islands, he moved to Malaga for a record €3.5 million deal. He was the top scorer again as they beat relegation narrowly. Let's take a look at Salomon Rondon career:

Club Career

Rondon then signed for Russian side FC Rubin Kazan for a €10 million fee, making him the most expensive Venezuelan ever. He tasted Europa League football there for the first time as he scored crucial goals against Inter Milan. His form at Kazan prompted champions Zenit Saint Petersburg to secure his services for €15 million in January 2014. He helped them to a Russian Premier League title. He had to face a lot of racism in Russia, being the first black to play for them. He kept his head straight and performed despite the racist chants and gestures aimed at him, even from his own fans at times.
Rondon shattered transfer club transfer records once again as he signed for West Bromwich in their record €15 million deal in 2015. He had a slow start to life at the Hawthorns Stadium, but caught life in his second campaign. He scored crucial winners and a hat-trick of headers, which was a rare feat in the league. In January 2018, Rondon was involved in a freak tackle that broke James McCarthy’s leg. Rondon broke down later on, knowing the extent of the injury he caused.
After three happy seasons in the Midlands, Rondon moved on loan to Newcastle United. Rondon took the advice of Faustino Asprilla, a famous Colombian footballer who scored a hat-trick in 1997 against Barcelona in the Champions League. Under Rafa Benitez, he developed his game, a target man. He formed a fruitful striker partnership with Ayoze Perez by assisting him multiple times. With 11 league goals to his name, he became the first forward since Alan Shearer in 2003 to win Newcastle’s player of the year award.
He saw his first continental title there as he scored a brace in a 3-0 win in the finals against the Columbus Crew in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. He ended up winning the Golden Boot with 9 goals as well. He has 36 goals in 68 appearances for them and averages one goal every two games.

International Career

Playing for Venezuela has been Rondon’s dream. He put his everything on the line for his national side. When he was on international duty once, he received the bad news of his father's passing away. Despite the inconsolable grief of losing his role model, Rondon stayed with the national team, stating that it was what his father would’ve wanted. He scored in the next game and paid tribute to his father.
He scored at the 2016 Copa America Centenario, the day he received his 50th national cap to become the first from his country to score at three Copa Americas. He became the country’s all-time top scorer in 2019 after surpassing Juan Arango with 24 goals.
He has been unstoppable since that as he doubled his tally and stands at 47 international goals. Rondon took over the armband and was constantly trying to drag his side to the FIFA World Cup. Venezuela is currently 7th in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers and stands a chance to make it to the final playoff game for the showpiece event’s qualification.

Salomon Rondon's Awards and Achievements

Rondon won his first silverware in 2008 as he was part of the Aragua team that won the Copa Venezuela 2008. He then became a two-time league winner at Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2015 and River Plate in 2023. The biggest success, however, came in the 2024 Champions Cup. He was the Golden Ball winner as well as the Golden Boot winner, as his side won the competition in style. He also shared the Golden Boot in the Mexican league that season. His other major individual success was winning Newcastle United’s Player of the Year award in 2019.