Salomon Rondon has not joined up with the Venezuela national team for this week’s World Cup qualifiers and so could be in line to make his Everton debut against Burnley in just under two weeks’ time.
The striker, who joined the Blues on a free transfer from Dalian Professional in China to link up with former boss Rafa Benitez on Tuesday, had been expected to add to his 82 caps this week with Venezuela facing Argentina on Friday before travelling to face Peru next Monday and Paraguay on Thursday.
However,
that Rondon, who is his nation’s all-time top scorer with 31 goals, has not joined up with the team following his switch to Goodison Park.
The news comes as a boost to Everton as all three countries hosting Venezuela’s qualifying matches are currently on the UK Government’s red list, meaning those travelling back to England would have to quarantine for ten days upon arrival.
That would have ruled Rondon out of the Toffees Premier League clash with the Clarets on Monday, September 13.
However, having not joined up with his country, Rondon should now be available for selection.
"I'm sorry I can't defend the colours of the @SeleVinotinto in this call,” he said.
“You know how much it hurts not to be with you but I trust my teammates and I hope to play with them soon "
La Vinotinto, the Red Wine, as they are called, are currently ninth of 10 teams in qualifying for the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
Despite Rondon scoring a late winner to seal a 2-1 over Chile in November of last year, Venezuela have just one victory and one draw from six games and are four points off Yerry Mina and James Rodriguez’s Colombia who currently occupy the fifth-placed play-off place.
The 31-year-old, who put pen-to-paper on a two-year deal at Goodison Park, with Everton holding the option for another year on top of that, will provide back-up to Dominic Calvert-Lewin for the upcoming campaign.
After hosting Burnley, the Blues travel to Aston Villa on Saturday September 18 before taking on Queens Park Rangers in the Carabao Cup three days later.
