Arriving from Zenit Saint Petersburg in last season’s summer transfer window, Salomon Rondon (£6.5m) initially took time to find his feet at West Bromwich Albion.
Despite earning Fantasy Premier League points against Chelsea, Leicester City and Liverpool early on, the Venezuelan managed only three goals and two assists in the first 23 matches of his debut Premier League campaign.
From Gameweek 24 onwards, though, Rondon showed why Tony Pulis was willing to spend a club-record fee to secure his services.
The striker scored six times and provided one assist, and he was involved in 50% of the Baggies’ goals during that period. He had previously scored or assisted 27.3% of his side’s goals when on the pitch.
Encouragingly for Pulis, Rondon has already maintained that momentum in the early stages of 2016/17.
Fielded as a lone forward at Crystal Palace last weekend he netted the winner and collected two bonus points in a 1-0 victory.
Rondon sat second only to Southampton’s Dusan Tadic in the ICT Index for Gameweek 1 and was ranked top for ICT Threat, with a score of 85.
The forward registered six attempts on goal, with five efforts inside the box – joint-top for strikers in the Gameweek. He also produced more touches inside the box (12) than any other player in the opening round of matches.
Rondon’s ability in the air makes him the ideal target man for West Brom.
Four of his six attempts against the Eagles were headed efforts, which bodes well considering that the Baggies were joint-top for cross completion (42.9%) in Gameweek 1, with only Swansea City managing more successful crosses (12 to nine).
So far, Rondon has been snapped up by just over 14,000 FPL managers this week as Pulis’ side look to build on their Selhurst Park triumph.
A weekend visit from Everton is the first of three home fixtures in the next four Gameweeks, before Middlesbrough and West Ham United also travel to the West Midlands.
With a trip to AFC Bournemouth to also factor in, Rondon’s 2.9% ownership may soon be on the rise.
