Everton striker Salomon Rondon rejects transfer to Sharjah FC
Salomon Rondon will remain at Everton and fight for his place after he turned down a move to Sharjah FC ahead of the UAE transfer deadline, The Mirror reports.
The Venezuelan striker is third choice at Goodison Park, following the late-window signing of Neal Maupay from Brighton, with main man Dominic Calvert-Lewin now back from injury.
It appeared that the Toffees were set to profit from the sale of the 33-year-old, just as they did with the departure of Allan to Al Wahda last week.
But despite his opportunities diminishing since Frenchman Maupay arrived, and Frank Lampard preferring to go without a recognised striker at times earlier this season, Rondon wants to stay.
The Mirror report on Saturday night (1 October) says of the move: “He has turned it down and will now try to convince boss Frank Lampard to find him more time on the pitch.”
He has made five appearances in the Premier League so far this year, but in total they had added up to less than 90 minutes on the pitch [Transfermarkt].
Writing on the wall
With Rondon only coming off the bench in injury time of the 2-1 win at Southampton on Saturday, he has now seen a total of six minutes action across his past three outings.
Add that to the fact that Everton started the season without a striker yet he was still not certain to get a game and it would appear that a transfer would be in all party’s best interest.
With Calvert-Lewin still to be included in the squad there is a danger that the former Newcastle man doesn’t even make the bench in the coming weeks.
He must have reasoned that injuries are so frequent at Goodison Park that he is bound to get an opportunity somewhere along the line.
But the club would surely have preferred the financial boost of a transfer fee, however small, and to get a little-used player off the wage bill, so the latest development is inconvenient.
With just one league goal to his name in a Blues shirt he will have to show something that he hasn’t regularly done so far to convince Lampard to play him over his other options, so this decision seems a strange one.