Harry Redknapp believes Liverpool may look back on their decision not to sign Loic Remy earlier this summer with much regret.
As Brendan Rodgers sought to sign a new striker following the £75million departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona, he was in pole position to sign Remy for just £8.5million. Indeed, the France international, who is desperate for UEFA Champions League football, agreed personal terms, but the Anfield club pulled the plug at the last minute over medical concerns.
The 27-year-old, who scored 14 goals in 26 Premier League appearances whilst on loan at Newcastle United last season, has now returned to his parent club Queens Park Rangers ahead of the new campaign. And Loftus Road manager Redknapp has revealed he now intends to keep hold of the former Marseille striker, whilst offering his opinion that Liverpool will live to regret not snapping the player up when they had the chance.
“We hope Loic will stay,” Redknapp told Sky Sports. “He is a fantastic player and his attitude since he’s come back here has been first class. He’s trained great and we’re hoping he’s here at the start of the season. We don’t want to sell him. If you look at the prices of strikers at the moment, it’s incredible. To me he should be a £20million striker in comparison to other strikers who are getting sold for £11million or £12million.
“To have lost him for the amount we were going to would have been too cheap so to have him back here is fantastic. The chairman wants him to stay and we hope he does. He would have been a fantastic buy for Liverpool at that money, so their loss is our gain. We’ve got Charlie Austin, Loic and Bobby Zamora, so we’ve got three strikers. In an ideal world you’d like one more but we are not close to doing any other business at the moment.”
Whilst the loss of Suarez cannot be underestimated, Rodgers has still enjoyed a productive summer. Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren have all been signed from Southampton, whilst Lazar Markovic (Benfica), Emre Can (Bayer Leverkusen) and Javier Manquillo (Atletico Madrid) have also joined, and Sevilla’s Alberto Moreno is close to finalising a £12million switch to last season’s Premier League runners-up.
Speaking after watching his current side lose to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday night, the emotional fullback told ABC de Sevilla: “I am living in a strange situation because I am leaving the club of my life. Liverpool’s offer was good and I am going. Liverpool are a great team and of course I am super-motivated. I hope things go well.”
