In quite a horrible day for West Ham fans, having been told our month-long efforts to sign Michy Batshuayi ended in vein, despite Marseille accepting our £39m bid for the Belgian, as he closes in on a move to Chelsea, I ask: could this be the opportunity West Ham needed to finally secure Loic Remy?
I don’t think he’s the calibre of player that Michy Batshuayi could be, but we all know he is a well-proven goalscorer in top division football, and has Champions League experience. Scoring 54 goals in 120 games in Ligue 1, he attracted a lot of attention, especially in the Premier League.
Why Remy still sticks in my mind, is because of that all too familiar feeling for us West Ham fans of being pipped to the post by another club. QPR had sealed his signature back at the January transfer window in 2013 for £8m and he went on to score 6 goals for them in 15 games.
He could not stave off their relegation, though, and was sent out on loan to Newcastle where he bagged an incredible 14 goals in 24 games. This, of course, attracted a lot of attention from a lot of Champion’s League clubs, most notably Arsenal. But it was Chelsea who got their man after triggering his release clause.
After what can only be described as a turbulent career for Chelsea, he actually has scored a decent enough goal tally for the Blues. In all competitions, he’s grabbed 12 goals in 31 games, with only 9 of those games where he’s started. Imagine under Bilic’s tutelage what he could achieve given a good running in the team.
With, unfortunately, Batshuayi going to Chelsea I believe Remy will be a forgotten man in Conte’s plans. I can’t imagine that Chelsea could demand a higher transfer fee for him than his previous transfers, with Remy’s reported £10.5m move to Chelsea two years ago, and his €15m move to Marseille in 2010, I think we could potentially have a steal on our hands.
He’s 29 (the same age as Carlos Bacca, and younger than Mario Gomez, both of whom are reported targets of ours) but as I’ve said above, he is a proven goalscorer in the Premier League, and his experience could prove vital in our upcoming European adventure.
