Falcao arrival forces Remy to reconsider his Chelsea future
CHELSEA have agreed the loan signing of Radamel Falcao from Monaco in a move that has left Loic Remy considering his Stamford Bridge future.
Falcao will fill the space left by Didier Drogba as back-up to the first choice striker Diego Costa.
It is understood that Chelsea will pay a loan fee of around £5m for Falcao with the option to buy him permanently next summer for £35m. Monaco also hope to take some of the Stamford Bridge club’s promising young players on loan.
Falcao, who is in Chile for the Copa America with Colombia, is looking forward to returning to London as a Chelsea player even though he will take a substantial cut to his £265,000-a-week Monaco wages.
His move to Stamford Bridge has has been sealed as Chelsea prepare a bid for Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic after making the Bosnian their top choice to replace Petr Cech.
PROSPECTS
Remy, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future. He had hoped Drogba’s departure would improve his playing prospects for next season but the decision of Jose Mourinho to push through the signing of Falcao has arguably made competition even tougher.
Crystal Palace are interested in Remy, 28, and can offer hime the chance to stay in London and re-unite with Alan Pardew, under whom he worked at Newcastle United.
Remy earns around £80,000 a week at Chelsea and there is optimism that Palace could offer him a competitive wage. But it remains to be seen how much the Blues would demand for Remy.
Due to a clause in his Queens Park Rangers contract, Chelsea signed Remy for £10.5m and Mourinho would ideally like to keep him at the club.
The Frenchman scored seven Premier League goals in just six starts this season, including crucial goals against Hull City and Stoke City.
Chelsea could, therefore, demand anywhere between £15m and £20m for Remy, which would create a stumbling block for Palace.
There is also interest in Remy from Bordeaux and Lyon, whose 21-year-old defender Samuel Umtiti has hit the radar of Chelsea, along with Liverpool and Arsenal.
Umtiti can play as a central defender or as a left-back, which, with Filipe Luis hoping to return to Atletico Madrid, could be attractive to Chelsea.
Mourinho’s preferred option is to sign the more experienced 30 yearold Joao Miranda from Atletico, but Chelsea face competition for him from Manchester United.
Remy is unlikely to create a problem for Mourinho or Chelsea. He simply wants to start a higher number of games next season improve his chances of making the French squad for Euro 2016.
Sanctioning Remy’s sale would give Mourinho a major headache in terms of trying to fill the third space in his squad for a forward.
Chelsea are interested in Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, who can play anywhere across a front three and could fill in as a main striker if needed.
QPR’s Charlie Austin would be another option, but he would be wary of joining the Blues as third-choice – particularly as there is also strong interest from Newcastle and Southampton.
Patrick Bamford has spoken of his desire to be given a first-team chance at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea appear more likely to loan him to a Premier League club next season.
Champions League runners-up Juventus remain interested in the Chelsea midfielder Oscar, but their £18m valuation is likely to be far less than any figure that would make the Blues consider selling the Brazilian.
Chelsea signed Oscar for £25m in 2012 and, while the 23-year-old’s form has dipped in the second half of both of the past two seasons, Mourinho has spoken encouragingly about the player’s Stamford Bridge future.
Oscar has missed the Copa America to have a full summer of rest, which Mourinho believes can see the Brazilian reproduce his best form for an entire campaign.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are intent on signing Begovic. However, even if Stoke accept an offer, Chelsea will still have to convince Begovic that he will play enough games to make a move worthwhile as the 27-year-old does not want to spend the peak of his career on the substitutes’ bench.
Begovic ticks the most boxes for Mourinho as he has more than 100 games of Premier League experience, is a Bosnia international with 40 caps and is considered home grown under Premier League rules after first moving to England aged 16.
However, Begovic may well be reluctant to agree to a move to Chelsea early in the transfer window with the futures of so many goalkeepers both in England and abroad in doubt, with Roma particularly keen. © Daily Telegraph, London.