Premier League Chelsea are set to offload on-loan striker Loic Remy this summer for a cut-rate price.
According to a report in the Sun, the Frenchman is set to move away from the Stamford Bridge and Chelsea will not stand in his way. Remy has 1 season left on his contract and the Blues will try to recuperate some of the estimated £10.5 million they paid for him in 2014 this summer.
Remy, who joined the Blues from QPR in 2014, helped the Blues to the Premier League and EFL Cup double with 9 goals and 2 assists. After the departure of Didier Drogba, it seemed as if he would have a more prominent role at the club in the following season.
However that wasn’t to be and Chelsea had a disastrous season, one in which he made even fewer appearances than in their title winning campaign. He barely featured for Mourinho and was used even lesser by Guus Hiddink, ending the season with 3 goals and an assist in 20 appearances.
After Conte’s arrival before the start of last season, he was sent out on loan to Crystal Palace. A few weeks after joining them, injuries to his calf and hamstring kept him out for the entire first half of the campaign. He made a total of 8 appearances for the Eagles and didn’t manage a single goal or assist.
The report goes on to state that Remy, who currently pockets around £80,000-a-week in weekly wages, isn’t a part of Antonio Conte’s plans for the upcoming season, despite the uncertainty surrounding the futures of nearly all of his strikers.
Diego Costa’s recent revelations about his manager’s text message to him informing him that he wouldn’t be a part of his plans for the coming season and that he now needs to find a new club, make his Chelsea exit all the more certain and Atletico Madrid is said to be his preferred destination.
Besides having to deal with Costa’s impending exit, Michy Batshuayi also looks set to exit the club in a bid to get some regular game time. Since making his big money move from Marseille last summer, Batshuayi has found it difficult to break into Conte’s starting XI.
He started in only 8 of his 29 appearances, but still managed to get 11 goals in the process. However, he is still expected to make a temporary move away from London. Dominic Solanke is already a Liverpool player while Bertrand Traore is said to be joining Olympique Lyon.
Tammy Abraham, who had a breakthrough season while on loan with Championship side Bristol City in the last campaign is expected to be sent out on loan to a team in the Premier League, with Swansea City, Newcastle and Brighton all said to be vying for his signature.
In spite of all this, Chelsea are still said to be willing to let go of the 30-year-old Remy. It isn’t surprising, given his form and injury troubles in recent years.
It seems a shame that Chelsea weren’t able to bring the best out a once highly-rated talent. Some confidence and regular game time is necessary for the Frenchman in this stage of his career, if he is to get back to his best and that can only be made available to him away from Stamford Bridge.
