Chelsea loans Loic Remy to Crystal Palace – why not just transfer him?
By George Perry
Loic Remy will spend the 2016/17 on loan at Crystal Palace, as Chelsea continues to struggle with the concept of a permanent transfer.
Loic Remy’s prospects for the 2016/17 season boiled down to one question: loan or transfer. It was always a matter of if, not when, particularly after Michy Batshuayi started proving why Chelsea paid £33 million for him.
Remy rumours stretched from the London clubs to Besiktas, with possibilities in his native France as well as Spain. Despite all the chatter, Remy desired to stay in London, where he has been since joining Queens Park Rangers in 2013. This put Crystal Palace at the top of the possibilities list, assuming Chelsea factors a player’s desire into their decision-making.
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Loic Remy will reunite with Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace. Pardew managed Newcastle United during Remy’s loan there in 2013/14. Remy’s 14 goals for Newcastle doubled the next highest tally, and Pardew no doubt hopes he can rekindle Remy’s offensive touch.
"Loic has been a target of mine throughout this transfer window and I’m delighted the deal has been done. I brought him to Newcastle so I know what he is capable of and I am convinced he will be a quality addition to our squad as we evolve. – Alan Pardew, SkySports"
Between injuries and other options up front, Remy never found a regular spot – let alone a rhythm – at Chelsea. He scored for Chelsea in four different competitions and has Premier League and League Cup winners’ medals. However, he was always a fringe player with a limited future for the Blues.
The real question then, is why is this a loan? Remy is 29 years old. No reasonable person (nor unreasonable ones, for that matter) can think he will ever find consistent first-team playing time at Chelsea. Diego Costa, Batshuayi and Tammy Abraham all stand between Remy and Stamford Bridge.
Remy is not coming back to Chelsea. Michael Emenalo and friends are once again placing a player’s career in suspended animation for little apparent reason.
The likely rationale is a hope that Remy will have a standout season at Crystal Palace, thereby raising the fee Chelsea can extract for a permanent transfer. In one sense, that would be a vote of confidence for the player. Chelsea recognizes that he is surplus to requirements, but that does not diminish his potential. Let him flourish, let the world recognize his worth and then cash in on it.
While it is nice to think that Chelsea is implicitly making this vote of confidence, it is an unreasonable amount of credit to give Chelsea’s front office. Chelsea has an inexplicable habit of loaning everyone and selling few. Loaning young players makes sense when they need development time before vying for a first team spot. Loaning a 29-year old injury-prone substitute makes about as much sense as buying Papy Djilobodji (what, too soon?).
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Chelsea did right by a few players earlier in this transfer season. The Blues permanently transferred Mohamed Salah and Djilobodji. Salah is the best comparison to Remy given his age, abilities and success on previous loans. Chelsea should have sold Remy as they did Salah, and given the Frenchman the opportunity to fully move on with his career.