Chelsea have no concerns over Loïc Rémy’s long-term fitness, despite the France international having long suffered from a heart condition, with José Mourinho confident the trio of strikers at his disposal this season represent a significant upgrade on last year’s forward line.
Rémy could make his debut for the London club on Saturday against Swansea, the only other side who boast a perfect record in the Premier League, despite Diego Costa’s recovery from the hamstring injury which prompted him to withdraw from Spain’s squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Macedonia. Mourinho may choose to rest the £32m forward prior to Wednesday’s visit of Schalke in the Champions League, with the £8.5m arrival from Queens Park Rangers being Costa’s likeliest replacement.
The France forward had been on the verge of joining Liverpool earlier this summer, travelling to the United States to link up with Brendan Rodgers’ squad for their pre-season tour where he undertook a medical in advance of a transfer. However, Liverpool pulled the plug on the deal having apparently been unnerved by a long-standing heart condition that had first been flagged up four years ago when he had completed a move from Nice to Marseille.
“I don’t know [why he did not move to Anfield] and we don’t have Liverpool’s report,” said Mourinho. “At this club, medical responsibilities start with [the medical director] Paco Biosca. He did his job, surrounded by opinions from top specialists in different areas, and the final conclusion was the same as that which the France football federation medical department had drawn before the World Cup: the player has no problem.”
Rémy suggested last week that Liverpool must have been influenced by other reasons that did not stem from the medical tests. “It was not very honest from their side,” he said. “I know exactly what I have; I met all the specialists possible in the world. A lot of players share the same situation as mine and Liverpool know it.” He joins Costa and the returning Didier Drogba as Chelsea’s strike force for the campaign ahead, replacing the departed Samuel Eto’o, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres at Stamford Bridge. That last trio had contributed only 19 league goals last term, and 31 in all competitions.
The new forward line delivered 64 for their respective sides last season, and Mourinho is delighted with the players he has secured as his team attempt to maintain their perfect start to the new campaign. “Nando was a fantastic guy and professional,” said the manager. “His career here was not super successful but, at important moments, he gave an important contribution to this club. We like him a lot. But Rémy was one of the players we had in our objectives as a reaction to an unexpected situation.
“Now we have a guy like Didier who is a box expert, a kind of striker that the box is his natural habitat and the best of the three in the air. Rémy is very fast, he attacks spaces, he can play even from the sides like he does for France, coming in from the right or, with Alan Pardew [at Newcastle last season], from the left. Diego is a player we were chasing for about a year, waiting to get him, and we think he’s a player very adapted to the style of play we want to implement in the team. We had a good group of strikers last season, but we changed three for three and we believe these three give us more, in relation to the football we want to play.”