As mentioned earlier, he was a free signing. All players get paid ffs, but yiu don’t lump all their wages on to the fee when talking about what they cost. Rondon was a free signing
Overpaying on wages over the last 5 or 6 years is one of the biggest issues at this club. It's not accurate at all that fees are more important. Basic maths shows that for a lot of transfers, the wage costs over the course of the contract will be significantly more than the fee.
For example, say a player signed for 20m on a 5 year deal at 100k p/w.
That is 100k x (5x52) = £26m wages over the contract. That's a 46m outlay overall.
Even a 10m player on a 3 year deal at 50k per week costs almost as much n wages as the fee.
We need to reduce fees of course, but wage reductions are just as important as they are an ongoing cost. And that's even before considering the cultural issues caused by huge wages being offered to average players. We are seen as a home for average PL players to come and finish their career whilst earning a huge wage, with no expectation to succeed. Is it any wonder we are a total joke.