With Loic Remy finding opportunities at Chelsea hard to come by, and goals seeming to allude Newcastle United, perhaps a potential loan move back to Tyneside is on the horizon for the Frenchman.
Reports have emerged suggesting that the former QPR man might be on the verge of re-joining the club he spent the 2013-14 season playing for.
Remy might be a popular choice for the Newcastle fans, during his season in the North East he scored 14 goals in the league and finished as the Magpies top scorer that year. With the current choice of strikers being Aleksander Mitrovic, Papiss Cisse and Ayoze Perez, Newcastle have struggled to score too many goals. The three of the forwards currently share only nine goals in the league between them and no Newcastle player has scored in their last three games.
Time to leave Chelsea?
Since arriving at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2014, Remy has seen his role limited to being an influential substitute for the Blues. Spending all of his time at Chelsea behind first choice striker Diego Costa.
Despite not being a starter for many of his appearances, the Frenchman has still managed to score eight goals of Chelsea in the league during his time there, given the likelihood that there will be more starting opportunities at Newcastle, his goal tally could rise substantially.
What would he bring?
Having mentioned the names of the current options for Newcastle’s striking position earlier, the three men each provide different styles of play. While Perez is of the newer breed of striker, relying on his technical ability and pace to create and finish chances, he fails to provide the rugged strength and aerial ability of his teammate Mitrovic.
Cisse has been a good source of goals in his earlier years at St James’ Park, however his performances at times can be underwhelming and goals have dried up in the last couple of seasons. The Senegalese international does however provide a reliable option to finish crosses and through balls, chances that do not require him to be too involved in the build-up play.
Remy however would be able to bring a good mix of the three to Newcastle’s side. Possessing very good pace to run at and in behind defences, with a proven record of scoring headers. The Frenchman also has the ability to drop back at times and help build an attack, however much like Cisse, he would be better used as a finisher.
Other options?
With Newcastle opting to sign talent from around Europe to fill their striking positions, the fans have been hoping to see more Premier League proven quality given a chance up front.
One such player is QPR striker Charlie Austin. The 26-year old was prolific during his time in the lower leagues of English football and proved that he can carry that form when playing in the top flight.
Austin finished last season with 18 Premier League goals for his side. This led to immense speculation that the Englishman would be set to leave Loftus Road after they were relegated as he had proved he would be quality for a Premier League side. Newcastle was a team strongly linked with him, and the cost would have been around the £15 million mark.
However, Austin happened to remain at QPR and is part of their fight to gain promotion again this year, after Newcastle decided to spend their money on promising Serbian forward Mitrovic. While this transfer was seen as a good signing for the future, the 21-year old has failed to provide a solid amount of goals during his time so far.
