Newcastle United will be looking to end the season on a high when they return from the international break.
Matt Ritchie has waxed-lyrical about Newcastle duo Salomon Rondon and Miguel Almiron for what they have brought to the club in an attacking sense this season.
West Brom loanee, Rondon arrived at the club last summer where he has become a regular member of Rafa Benitez’s team, with Ritchie dubbing his goals for the team as ‘priceless’.
On the other hand, January recruit Almiron has lifted St James’ Park since moving from the MLS during the winter transfer window, which has also seen Newcastle look up rather than down in the Premier League table.
Speaking to Jim White on talkSPORT (18/03/2019 at 12:40 pm), Ritchie sung the praises of his attack-minded teammates who have made a difference to the team.
“He’s [Rondon] been fantastic for us,” Ritchie told talkSPORT. “He’s a great character. His goals are priceless. He has been fantastic since the day he walked through the door. He has given us a target to hit and gets us up the pitch.
“He’s [Almiron] a threat and something we haven’t really had. He likes to run with the ball, run behind and he’s going to be a fan favourite that’s for sure.”
During their last league outing, Newcastle recorded a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth, with Rondon netting a sublime free-kick and Ritchie scoring a stunning late volley in stoppage-time.
There is no doubt that Rondon, who has played a lone centre-forward role for large parts of the season, has been instrumental to Benitez’s side winning 10 points from their last five matches.
Over the course of the season, he has found the back of the net on nine occasions from 25 league matches, including supplying his teammates with five assists [transfermarkt].
Whilst Rondon doesn’t stand head and shoulders with England’s top marksmen, his goals and assists have been valuable to the team because they have either won his team the game or rescued them a point.
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