Among the many nice stories surrounding Real Oviedo’s return to the Spanish top flight after 24 years away is the reunion between club hero Santi Cazorla and new signing Salomon Rondon.
Before last weekend’s season start Rondon himself had been away from La Liga for 13 years, and his last goal in the competition was in May 2012, a header from a free-kick taken by Cazorla, then his team-mate at Malaga.
“I’m very happy to be with Santi again,” Rondon tells The Athletic. “He’s a great player, an example, a symbol here in Oviedo. He still has the same quality. Just like me. The only thing that’s changed is the colour of our hair.”
Speaking before Oviedo host Real Madrid on Sunday, their first home La Liga match since 2001, Rondon’s boyish smile shines throughout the half hour interview. The Venezuelan looks a very trim 35, especially considering the 700 senior appearances he has made (and over 250 goals scored) for 13 different teams across seven countries and four continents.
Among Rondon’s career highlights is the season he spent on loan at Newcastle United in 2018-19, when he scored 11 goals in 32 Premier League games under Rafa Benitez’s management.
Rondon celebrating at St James’ Park in 2019 (Ian Hodgson/PA Images via Getty Images)
“I had such a great time at Newcastle,” he says. “The fans gave me their affection from the first minute, and St James’ Park was a marvellous place. It was a privilege to wear the No 9 shirt. I remember I was the first No 9 to win the fans’ player of the year award since Alan Shearer.”
The following summer both Rondon and Benitez moved to Chinese club Dalian Pro, who activated Rondon’s £16.5million ($22.2m) release clause at parent club West Bromwich Albion, something then-Newcastle owner Mike Ashley decided against. That was two years before Ashley sold Newcastle to its current owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
“Things are completely different there now, for sure,” Rondon says with a rueful smile. “It’s a pity not to have played for Newcastle when the club had more ambition.”
The conversation moves to current Newcastle striker Alexander Isak’s attempts to force a move this summer.
“It’s a difficult issue to give an opinion on,” Rondon says. “Isak is a great player for Newcastle, has done great things for them. But you also have to understand the club does not want to lose a player like him. It’s a sad issue really, I hope it gets resolved as soon as possible.”
Rondon says a first World Cup would be ‘fantastic’ for Venezuela (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Rondon has experience of the other side of a transfer — when a club decides they need to sell and the player has little say in the matter. His May 2012 goal qualified Malaga for the only Champions League campaign in the club’s history, but that summer he was sold to Russian club Rubin Kazan for €9m. Spells at Everton and Argentina’s River Plate also ended sooner than expected.
“Sometimes clubs and owners need money, or to renew the squad,” Rondon says, now serious.
“A player can be the least informed about the situation. They offer you to different teams, different markets, which sometimes are attractive, sometimes not. A player also has to fight for his own interests, things they want to achieve. There can be a conflict, but the idea is to look for a way out where all parties benefit. I believe that in life every problem has a solution, except death.”
It’s a grim sounding comment, but offered with Rondon’s characteristic grin. He has lots of experience in accepting the cards he has been dealt, and has generally come up trumps. There were 14 goals in 27 games at Dalian Pro (2019-20) and his 13 goals in 26 games helped Zenit St Petersburg win the 2014-15 Russian title. Across two seasons he scored and 27 in 61 league games for his last club Pachuca (2024-25) — and hit a double in the Liga MX club’s 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup final victory over MLS side Columbus Crew.
“A footballer’s job is to compete,” he says. “Every time you change teams, you have to go with that mentality, to give 100 per cent at training and make it difficult for the coach when he picks the team. You give your max every day, to get good results for the team. This profession demands a lot of sacrifice, physical and mental, and you have to be ready for that.”
On the international scene, Rondon’s 46 goals in 117 games for Venezuela include crucial winners in recent World Cup 2026 qualifying victories over Peru and Bolivia. It leaves them in the running for a first ever World Cup place ahead of September’s crunch fixtures against Argentina and Colombia.
One reason Rondon remains physically competitive at the game’s top levels at 35 is a personal routine which includes regular boxing workouts.
“I love to box and it prepares you a lot for football,” he says. “I don’t often get in the ring, but I have a punching bag at home and use it whenever I can. You have to be physically strong against today’s centre-backs, able to hold the ball with your back to goal and allow your team to breathe.”
That strength was shown when Rondon played for Pachuca against Real Madrid at the Club World Cup on June 22. He physically dominated 22-year-old centre-back Raul Asencio, whose flailing attempts to combat the centre-forward ended with a red card.
Rondon also plays basketball and says it helps his aerial game (Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Rondon smiles again at the memory, while pointing out that his experience in being able to read the situation also helped.
“In that moment, I’d won the battle for position, and got ahead of him on the run,” Rondon says. “I was going to shoot, but I felt he was pulling me back, and I knew it would be a sending off as he was the last man. You have to use your experience in these situations. Then, well, Madrid are Madrid. We had so many chances that day (25 shots, 11 on target) but (Thibaut) Courtois stopped everything. They attacked four times and scored three goals (Madrid won 3-1).”
Oviedo have strengthened considerably during the summer, albeit within La Liga’s strict salary cap rules. Ex-Aston Villa midfielder Leander Dendoncker, 30, and former Manchester United and Villarreal defender Eric Bailly, 31, could make their debuts on Sunday against Madrid, having both arrived on free transfers.
“We know that against Madrid you have to compete at 100 per cent,” Rondon says. “Against these teams you have to work hard on everything, be effective and take your chances. After promotion there is some really nice positive energy around the club. We know every game is a final for us, and we have to be ready for that.”
(Top photo: Oscar Fuentes/Jam Media/Getty Images)
