Newcastle United will not pay West Bromwich Albion's asking price for striker Salomon Rondon in the summer unless he increases his goal tally for the club, according to Chronicle Live journalist Lee Ryder.

The 29-year-old has been hugely impressive for the Magpies since signing on loan in the summer, scoring 10 goals in 28 games for Rafa Benitez' men this term.

The Venezuelan forward has recently insisted that he would like to stay at the North East club beyond the end of this season, with reports claiming that West Brom are set to demand around £16 million for the powerful striker.

But, after speaking on the Everything is Black and White podcast, Ryder admitted that he cannot see Magpies chairman Mike Ashley matching Albion's price-tag for Rondon, unless the latter scores more goals for Newcastle before the end of the campaign.

He said: "Will Newcastle pay the big money for him because West Brom want a decent fee? We don’t know yet. It could be even bigger if West Brom get promoted. I am not sure of the exact complexities of the deal but the reality is: will Newcastle pay the money for a player of that age?

"In the past they haven’t done that. Going forward if Rondon has 15 goals this season and makes it impossible not to do it then that could be a different scenario again.

"At the minute, if it was down to Lee Charnley and Mike Ashley with the amount of goals he has already, I don’t think they would pay the big money for him."

The Magpies have fellow striker Dwight Gayle out on loan with West Brom as part of the Rondon deal, and it remains to be seen whether West Brom's talisman will be used as part of the deal to land Rondon on a permanent deal.

Albion currently sit 4th in the Sky Bet Championship table, seven points off the automatic promotion places.

The Verdict

This is a major blow for Newcastle United, because if Ryder is correct, the Magpies won't be landing another of their primary transfer targets.

It looked like Newcastle had somewhat turned a corner under Ashley when they broke their club-record fee to sign Miguel Almiron in January, but they should be going all out to sign Rondon.

They have got to include Gayle as part of the deal, in my opinion, as West Brom would love to keep him as much as Newcastle want to keep Rondon.