Alan Pardew would love to keep Loic Remy at Newcastle United, but he accepts this is likely to be a difficult order during the summer transfer window.
The France international initially arrived in England in January last year, when Queens Park Rangers took him from Marseille for around £9million. Remy was charged with keeping the struggling Loftus Road club in the Premier League, but despite scoring six goals in 14 appearances, this was a battle he never looked like winning.
It was always likely that the 27-year-old would leave the Londoners during the summer rather than play second-tier football for the season, particularly in a World Cup year. Pardew won the race for his signature having agreed a loan deal for the striker, who has responded with 12 goals in 22 league appearances for the Magpies.
His latest goal came in stoppage time to give Newcastle an important 1-0 win over Aston Villa, to end a three-match losing streak. And as much as Pardew would love to sign Remy on a permanent basis at the end of the season, the 52-year-old said: “Loic Remy is going to be hot property and will get a lot of headlines. His goals could make it harder for us to buy him. Perhaps I will leave him out of the next 11 games.”
Although Remy is due to return to QPR ahead of next season, manager Harry Redknapp has in the past indicated that his future may lie elsewhere after effectively turning his back on their promotion bid this term. However, the player could yet return to the capital, with speculation in recent weeks suggesting Arsenal are keeping tabs on him.
Arsene Wenger is certainly in need of more firepower at the Emirates Stadium, regardless of their 4-1 win against Sunderland which keeps their bid for the Premier League title on track. Many pundits and supporters feel the Gunners’ failure to sign a striker, either last summer or in the January window, could ultimately prove to be their undoing this season, with only Olivier Giroud showing signs of consistency in front of goal this term.
