While it has been a season of sober reflection and below par performance never seen in the club since the "Russian Petrol Dollars Revolution" of Roman Abrahmovic, the impending sale of French striker Loic Remy to League leaders
Leicester City for £11.5m from EPL champions Chelsea doesn't has been met with sadness and negativity by the club fans. Though the reported transfer fee represents a £1.5m profit on Remy as he was signed for £10m exactly 18 months ago from Queens Park Ranger.
With the loan signing of the once Brazilian Wonder Kid Alexander Pato from Corinthians, and the form of Diego Costa , it only seems logical that parting with Remy represents the best option for club and player. This season the former Marseille and French striker hasn't been at his best scoring a lone goal in the loss against soon to be new club Leicester City, a match that signalled the end of the second coming of charismatic Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho. Remy has played 10 games with a lone goal and he hasn't impressed when given a chance as against both Newcastle and Arsenal (Community Shield) he has been abysmal at most. Such was his form that Mourinho played without a recognised striker in some league matches this season. At 29 years , Remy should be in the prime of his career and might soon be in decline soon as he advances in age. Remy hasn't registered an assist all season and has a low shit accuracy of 29% , creating just 2 chances with an average pass accuracy of 85%. This is in contrast to last season when he scored 7 goals in 19 games, mostly coming from the bench . His shot accuracy was also a high of 59% and he looked lively all season scoring winning goals against Hull City and Stoke an excellent goal against Tottenham.
The problem with the purported sale of Remy is that it will only increase the pressure and excessive reliance the team has in Diego Costa this season. While Costa has been rejuvenated under Guus Hiddink with a goal record of six in six games , the team will become unbalanced if he experiences his now constant fragile hamstring injury. Pato has not had game time since November and might be lacking match fitness. Also as a new signing he will require extended time to adjust to his new environment and team. This then leaves a big gap on his availability for team selection when Remy departs . Radamel Falcao on his own has been a huge disappointment in his second spell in England. Falcao has only one goal which came in a loss to a Crystal Palace in August and has been sidelined with a thigh injury sustained since October. It is fair to say that his ill fated time in Manchester United represents a big improvement compared with his Chelsea move .
With all these taken into account, Chelsea will be left with only Diego Costa as it's one world class striker . This is coming at a time that Costa has sustained two minor injuries against Everton and
Arsenal which required quick medical attention .
Therefore for Chelsea to continue to push further up the table, an additional striker in the mould of Remy is needed. Just like the other players , his poor form may be a thing of timing and not indicate a decline . Chelsea should know that "Form is temporary while Class is permanent".
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