Newcastle have finally accepted defeat in their efforts to strike a permanent deal for Loic Remy amid growing concerns over the French striker's noncommittal stance towards the club. Few expected Remy to stay beyond his loan spell and the Journal confirmed our worst fears this morning that the 27-year-old has played his last game in black and white following his withdrawal from the squad for the final Premier League match of the season at Liverpool. Remy, who was included in France's World Cup squad on Tuesday, is reluctant to pledge his long-term future to Newcastle and has dissuaded the club's hierarchy from matching QPR's £12 million valuation as a result. It's also alleged that his attitude during the final months of the campaign, opting to protect himself from injury, was also a contributing factor. Not that we believe the club held a modicum of control over any potential deal to sign Remy, whose ambitions to play in the Champions League next term are well documented. The power has always been in his hands and it's quite disconcerting that we've allowed the same player to burn us twice now. It also contradicts the message Alan Pardew relayed on Monday when he expressed a belief that we still had an outside chance of persuading Remy to stay. "We're not completely resigned (on Remy), we're working hard to keep him," he told the Express.
