Newcastle United: What does the future hold for Loic Remy?

Loic Remy of Newcastle

Loic Remy is currently in great form for Newcastle, scoring 8 Premier League goals to date. Only Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero have scored more. Remy is only on loan at St James’ Park, so there is a danger that he could be snapped up before Newcastle manage to get a permanent deal tied up. Alan Pardew knows how difficult it is to get the French International on a permanent deal after failing last January when he saw the striker sign for QPR, despite thinking that Newcastle had managed to seal the deal.

There is no doubt that Remy is happy on Tyneside, he has spoken a lot about his admiration for the manager, the city and the fans, but the problem lies with his agents. They will be rubbing their hands at their client’s form and will want to get as much money as they can next summer when he is expected to leave QPR permanently.

Newcastle have an option to sign the striker on a permanent deal and if they have any sense, they will take it in January before other clubs get involved. However, we know that Newcastle’s transfer business lacks a lot of common sense. The Toon Army must be thinking that their chance of seeing Remy in a black and white shirt next season is decreasing every time he finds the net. It would also help Remy himself to sort his future out as soon as possible as he can then focus on his football. If he is dealing with a transfer as he heads to the World Cup in the summer, that can only have a detrimental effect on his preparation.

He could also stay at QPR, albeit this is unlikely as they will not want to make the same mistakes they made last season if they do gain promotion back to the Premier League. The obvious attraction that Remy has to QPR is that he can live in London, but the club will not be challenging for European places and the striker belongs at that level. If he chooses to return to Loftus Road, he will again lose respect from the footballing public as he did in January.

From players who have had more than ten shots this season, only Romulu Lukaku has a higher chance conversion than Remy. The Frenchman has a chance conversion rate of 35% while his shooting accuracy is 60%. (Stats taken from Epl Index, prior to Newcastle’s game against Norwich). These are highly impressive for a striker and they show the quality of Remy. He is currently carrying the majority of Newcastle’s goal threat as fellow strikers Shola Ameobi and Papiss Cisse are yet to score a league goal this season.

Personally I feel that Remy should sign for Newcastle permanently, but I may be biased in my judgement. He will have plenty of offers with clubs like Napoli, Inter Milan and Tottenham being linked in the past. All of whom are more likely to be playing a higher standard of football than Newcastle next season, however it just looks like it fits for Remy at St James’ Park. He looks happy and it’s filtering into his football. Surely he won’t reject Newcastle again. After all they say lightning never strikes twice. At least that is what all Newcastle fans (including myself) will be telling themselves.