As the January transfer window enters full swing and relegation-threatened Newcastle begin their hunt for a new striker to fire them away from danger, a familiar name has hit the headlines.
Chelsea frontman Loic Remy, who endured a largely successful loan spell with Newcastle during the 2013/14 season, has reportedly been offered to the Magpies, after incoming Blues’ boss Guss Hiddink deemed the Frenchman to be surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.
During his time in a black-and-white shirt, Remy averaged a highly respectable strike rate of 14 goals in 26 appearances – better than a goal every two games – and he appeared to be the talismanic frontman the Magpies had craved since the sale of prolific Senegalese forward Demba Ba.
However, following the conclusion of his one-year loan, the former Marseille striker stunned the Toon Army by shunning a permanent deal with the Magpies in favour of a financially lucrative move to the capital with Chelsea – irking the Newcastle hierarchy for a second time, after he previously neglected their interest by joining Queens Park Rangers at the 11th hour back in 2013.
In his one-and-a-half year’s at The Bridge, Remy has unsurprisingly found his first-team opportunities to be at a premium, making just 26 league appearances for the Blues – with many of those coming from the substitutes’ bench.
In spite of his limited game-time, Remy has still shown an eye for goal whenever he’s played for Chelsea, and the nimble forward boasted the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any Premier League player in 2015, averaging a goal every 107.67 minutes.
At 29-years of age, Remy does not fit into Newcastle’s mind-boggling transfer blueprint of signing players under the age of 26 with sell on value, and it’s unlikely that the Frenchman would be a long term solution to the Magpies’ goalscoring woes.
However, with the humungous stakes on offer for sides that can maintain their Premier League status heading into next season’s record-breaking £5.14billion television deal, Newcastle desperately need to acquire a forward who can hit the ground running and guarantee goals in the second-half of the campaign.
Despite creating a plethora of gilt-edged opportunities in their last three outings, Steve McClaren’s toothless Newcastle side have succumbed to consecutive 1-0 defeats, leaving them languishing in 18th place and two points adrift from safety heading into this weekend’s FA Cup third-round tie with Watford.
Following their latest loss at the Emirates Stadium, McClaren publicly berated his side’s lack of cutting edge, claiming that they would have undoubtedly turned their dominance into three points if they had a striker of Gunners’ forward Olivier Giroud’s quality amongst their ranks.
The former England manager’s remark appeared to be an acknowledgement of the irrefutable certainty that his barren side will suffer their second relegation under chairman Mike Ashley’s stewardship unless they address their glaring goalscoring deficiencies during the current transfer window.
With their ominous league position proving to be a stumbling block in convincing transfer targets to move to St James’ Park, the Magpies would be unbelievably foolish to let a prolific forward of Remy’s calibre slip through the net – regardless of their unsavoury dealings with the divisive forward in the past.
A six-month loan deal would suit both parties, with Remy needing game time to boost his dwindling chances of securing a slot in Didier Deschamps’ France squad for this summer’s European Championships, and Newcastle needing an experienced Premier League striker to put the ball in the back of the net and boost their meagre points tally.
In our current league predicament, we can’t afford to let our moral compass blight the fact that Remy would be a terrific addition to a side that are currently on a collision course with relegation, having scored just 19 goals in 20 Premier League games.
Do I like Loic Remy? No.
Do I think that he would be the perfect man to fire Newcastle to Premier League safety? Yes.