Rumour: Arsenal set sights on Newcastle forward Loic Remy

Loic Remy

Newcastle’s hopes of keeping Loic Remy beyond the end of the season have been dealt a blow, with Arsenal targeting the French forward, The Metro report.

Remy has impressed at St James’ Park this season on loan from QPR, finally getting the chance to wear the famous Black and White stripes six months after calamitously choosing doomed QPR over the Magpies.

While it was believed that move was money motivated and earned him some criticism in some quarters, a second defection away from the club could be viewed more favourably, with title-chasing Arsenal a more reasonable career choice.

Newcastle had been keen on securing the services of Remy on a permanent basis, with the Frenchman having netted on 11 occasions this season to help compensate for the lack of goals coming from anywhere else in the Newcastle squad.

Papiss Demba Cisse and Shola Ameobi have both struggled for goals this season and have been linked with moves away from the club, while Luuk De Jong is only on a loan deal himself, leaving no certainties that Newcastle will have a senior striker on their books come the end of June.

Arsenal however require forward reinforcements themselves with only Olivier Giroud considered a senior enough striker to lead the line in big games and Remy’s continued form in the Premier League has caused them to believe he could fit perfectly into their squad.

Remy would be the kind of striker who would suit Mesut Ozil, with Giroud often too stationary for the playmaker, while Remy would make the runs behind the defence that helped Ozil become so successful at Real Madrid.

At a reported £9million, Remy would represent a more cut-price deal than some of the other striker names linked with Arsenal in recent months, but could very easily do a job in a club that has several creative options but few willing to take the goal-scoring burden upon themselves.

Newcastle have failed to win any of the five games Loic Remy has missed this season, with his conversion rate of 21.6% key to their chances of victory.