Tottenham Hotspur are lining up a potential summer swoop for Loic Remy.
The France international has been linked with the White Hart Lane club in the past, as well as Arsenal, but it was Queens Park Rangers who lured him to the capital during the winter when they paid £8million to take him from Marseille. Tasked with scoring the goals to keep the Hoops in the top-flight, he has registered five in just eight appearances, including a brilliant opener in the heartbreaking 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic on Sunday afternoon.
Despite this healthy return, it looks increasingly likely that Harry Redknapp’s side will be relegated next month. Having won just four of their 32 fixtures in the Premier League, they stand second from bottom in the table, and are seven points adrift of safety with six games to play.
A return to the Championship would no doubt result in plenty of squad movement in the summer, with the likes of Esteban Granero, Adel Taarabt, Christopher Samba and possibly Julio Cesar unlikely to be enthralled by the prospect of second-tier football. But Remy, perhaps more than any of his team-mates, is the player expected to receive the most attention.
The 26-year-old may be under contract at Loftus Road until the summer of 2017, but when he joined the club in January, a relegation release clause of £8million was inserted into his deal. Considering the value of some strikers of similar or even lesser quality, this price would seem more than reasonable for a player who has taken little time to adjust to life in England.
According to The Guardian, Andre Villas-Boas has already identified Remy as a potential signing for his Spurs squad. Although the Portuguese coach is still on course to lead the Londoners to a top-four finish this season, a run of just four points from the last dozen available has allowed Chelsea to leapfrog them into third position, whilst rivals Arsenal, finding their best form just at the right time for the run-in, lurk behind in fifth place and just two points behind with a game in hand.
Many pundits feel the failure to sign a top striker in January could ultimately prove Tottenham’s undoing, with Emmanuel Adebayor struggling to find his form of last season and the only other senior first team option, Jermain Defoe, currently sidelined with a muscular injury.
Had Spurs signed Remy in January they would possibly be in a much more comfortable position than they are now in regards to clinching a UEFA Champions League place. But it appears as though Villas-Boas accepts he needs to bolster his firepower ahead of next season, and the addition of the QPR striker would no doubt be considered a case of better late than never.
